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Tommy Fury says he has no idea why US agents stopped him at London’s Heathrow Airport.

According to a story on his Instagram page Tommy Fury was prevented from boarding a flight to the US at London’s Heathrow Airport today. Fury said that he was pulled aside by US agents and told he knew the reason why he was barred from entering the US.

“So I just want to come on here and set the record straight before anyone else tries to,” he said (ht ESPN). “Me and my team this morning arrived at Heathrow Airport ready for the press conference, ready to fly out.

“As soon as I entered the airport I got pulled to one side and I was told by a homeland security officer that was there that my ESTA [travel permit] had been denied and I wasn’t able to travel to the USA for a reason that I apparently know.

“I can stand here and say I’ve done absolutely nothing wrong and I have no clue why I am not allowed to travel to the USA.

Like I say I’ve been training for a fight for this whole time, and that’s all I’ve been doing. I have no clue why they would not allow me to travel today, and neither does any of my team or my lawyers.

“Now I’m having to go to embassies and all this sort of stuff to try and resolve it, and I’m in the middle of training guys.

“I don’t know why this has happened today it’s a massive shock to me and my whole team. Obviously, it’s a matter that needs to be resolved, it’s government issues. You know it’s a lot bigger than the fight right now and I’m just trying to get it sorted.”

Fury’s failed attempt to fly to the US comes after his older brother Tyson Fury was also prevented from flying to the US, on two separate occasions.

These incidents come after the US government sanctioned Daniel Kinahan, the man they believe operates the Kinahan Organised Crime Group — a billion dollar weapons and narcotics smuggling outfit.

The US government has forbidden US individuals and companies from doing business with Kinahan. They have also authorized a $ 5 million reward for information leading to his arrest, prosecution and conviction.

The US has also imposed travel bans on hundreds of people accused of having connections to Kinahan.

Tyson Fury has a long association with Kinahan. Kinahan founded the company that would become MTK Global. MTK Global represented Fury, and many other top boxing and MMA stars, until it folded two months ago in reaction to the sanctions against Kinahan.

Despite MTK claiming Kinahan stopped working with the company in 2017, Fury—and many other fighters—continued to be pictured with Kinahan and express their fondness for him.

Fury publicly thanked Kinahan in 2020 for negotiating his contracts to fight Anthony Joshua. Fury was pictured with Kinahan touring a Dubai gym in February.

It is believed that Kinahan resides in Dubai, having fled there in 2016 after an attempt was made on his life in Dublin. That attempt, known as the Regency Hotel Shooting, targeted a boxing weigh-in show for Macklin’s Gym Marbella (the company that would become MTK).

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After making disparaging remarks less than a year ago, Alistair Overeem explains why he entered pro wrestling.

Less than a year ago, heavyweight veteran Alistair Overeem had some very disparaging and homophobic things to say about professional wrestling. Just a few months removed from the UFC at the time, Overeem had this to say during an MMA Hour appearance.

“It’s just lame what these guys are doing. It’s fake. It’s lame. It’s stupid. It’s gay. It doesn’t make any sense,” Overeem told Ariel Helwani.

“It’s lame. It’s not even a sport. It’s just lame. It’s bad acting. It’s just lame. Sorry for all the fans of WWE, but I’m just being honest. I’m just giving my opinion.

“Free country, right? I think it’s lame, and because I hadn’t seen it for 20 years. I never watched Brock fight. I never watched CM Punk fight. I knew they were from WWE.”

In May, the 42-year-old Overeem found himself involved in the business he once trashed when he signed with Wrestling Entertainment Series (WES). He also found himself being interviewed on the MMA Hour once again, this time speaking in a slightly different tone.

“Life is interesting, let me put it that way. Cause on the one hand you’re like, ‘Oh yeah, you’re talking smack and then you’re doing it yourself,’” Overeem said. “Not too big a fan of it lately, but again, in my defense, I was a huge fan in the 80s when I was 8 or 9 or 10, 11, 12 [years old]. So it’s been up and down, and now it’s up again.

“I was always – just to remind you – not too flattering about kickboxing guys. I’m kickboxing now. I was kickboxing 10 years ago. I was kickboxing 25 years ago, so that’s a little bit of the up and down thing, right?”

As a prizefighting veteran of 23 years, Overeem is confident that he’d be able to make a smooth transition.

“You need to do [train], otherwise, it’s not going to go too good. Of course, the MMA background helps cause you’re used to falling and doing all the moves but this is a little bit different. Hats off to the guys [who do professional wrestling],” he said.

“I’m confident in my abilities. As an athlete, as a fighter, I just somehow have the ability that if I put my mind to it, I will just kick some ass.”

Overeem’s pro wrestling debut against WWE veteran Adam Scherr (ring name Braun Strowman) has been moved to July 9th from its original June 4th date. He is also making his return to kickboxing under Glory on October 8th against Badr Hari.

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Here’s the full Countdown to UFC 276.

UFC 276 fight week is here!

International Fight Week always includes a big pay-per-view, and 2022 is no exception. In the main event, middleweight champion Israel Adesanya puts his title on the line against first-time challenger Jared Cannonier. The co-main event is a trilogy matchup between men’s featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski and former champ Max Holloway. Volkanovski is 2-0 against the Hawaiian great, but the second fight was very close and who knows how the trilogy will pan out?

As usual, when it’s a pay-per-view week it gets the Countdown treatment. You can watch the full Countdown to UFC 276 video at the top of the page. In addition to the two title bouts, there’s a segment on the PPV main card opener between rising bantamweight star Sean O’Malley and Pedro Munhoz.

UFC 276 airs live on ESPN+ PPV, with a main card start time of 10 PM ET/7 PM PT and prelims on ABC/ESPN/ESPN+ at 8 PM ET/5 PM PT and early prelims on ESPN+ at 6:30 PM ET/3:30 PM PT.

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It’s sounding more and more likely that the next fight the heavyweight champ takes will be inside the Octagon.

Following Francis Ngannou’s first defense of his heavyweight title, back in January, it seemed likely that Ngannou was set for a prolonged contract battle with the UFC. Already involved in a dispute with the promotion over their decision to create an interim belt in 2021, the ‘Predator’ only needed to sit out until early 2023 for the ‘champion’s clause’ on his contract to expire before he could potentially enter free agency.

Given that he needed knee surgery—and the lengthy recovery that entails, anyway—the idea that fans wouldn’t see the Frenchman until sometime next year seemed like a safe prediction. However, it may just be that things between the Xtreme Couture talent and the world’s largest MMA promotion aren’t so dire as all that after all.

TMZ caught up with Ngannou to get an update on his recovery. According to the champ, he’s three months into rehab, and things are going well. Although he revealed that he and the UFC still haven’t come to any new deal, he hopes to be ready to fight by December.

“If everything goes well, I will be ready by the end of the year because it is going to be nine months,” Ngannou explained, speaking of his rehab (transcript via MMA Junkie). “(I want to be back in) late December, or early next year.”

Backing up the idea that Ngannou and the UFC may find some common ground is a recent interview with Dana White on the Jim Rome Show. While speaking of former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and his potential return to the Octagon, White cited Ngannou as a potential opponent for ‘Bones’—dependent on Ngannou’s rehab progress.

“Jon Jones is ready to go,” White said of the longtime Jackson-Wink fighter (transcript via MMA Fighting). “We’re just waiting for an opponent. It’s either going to be Francis [Ngannou], depending on how long his knee is going to take to recover, or Stipe Miocic.”

While all that sounds like good news for fans hoping to see Ngannou keep his MMA career on track, it doesn’t mean the 35-year-old has pushed his boxing ambitions entirely aside. Tyson Fury prodded the Cameroonian-born fighter on Twitter, likely in response to the TMZ interview, and Ngannou was quick to clarify that he still wants to see the ‘Gypsy King’ inside a boxing ring, sometime in 2023.

Whether or not he and the UFC can come to terms and still make a major boxing exhibition happen? That remains to be seen.

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Dan Hooker makes his prediction for the UFC 276 main event.

UFC lightweight Dan Hooker thinks Israel Adesanya’s next fight is a complete mismatch and that “The Last Stylebender” will “wipe the floor” with Jared Cannonier at UFC 276.

Hooker, who trains with Adesanya at City Kickboxing under renowned head coach Eugene Bareman, compared “The Killa Gorilla” to Adesanya’s previous opponent Paulo Costa, whom he dismantled and finished at UFC 253 in what was arguably his most impressive title defense to date.

“The Hangman” believes Adesanya could put on a similar performance on July 2. He claims Cannonier is a tailor-made matchup for him.

“I think it’s a silly fight, I think it’s another silly fight,” Hooker told The AllStar during a recent interview (h/t Low Kick MMA). “Yeah, I think it’s a silly fight. I think he’s (Israel Adesanya) gonna wipe the floor with him (Jared Cannonier). I think stylistically – I’m not being a d*ck, I said before the – everyone was saying, ‘Oh, Paulo Costa is really mean, he’s really duh duh duh, he hits really hard and he’s got big muscles.’ It’s the same sh*t, bro.”

“He’s just like a muscle-bound striker. Let’s be real about the situation like. Does he have takedowns? Not really. Does he have like good submissions – like a scrambling, wrestling game like, no, he doesn’t. He’s got to stand. He’s a muscle-bound striker. … Show me a muscle-bound striker that has ever done good against Israel.”

UFC 276, which features Adesanya vs. Cannonier as the main event, takes place July 2 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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A look at the scoring of Round 4 of the main event of UFC Vegas 57

If you’re of a certain age, you remember the introduction to ABC’s Wide World of Sports. The second sentences of that voiceover is famous — “The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.” The moment Bruce Buffer read the scores for the main event of UFC Vegas 57 was a perfect encapsulation of those words.

As Buffer announced that the judges had unanimously decided on a victor, Mateusz Gamrot and Arman Tsarukyan flanked referee Jason Herzog in the the center of the octagon. Herzog held the left arm of Tsarukyan while also grasping the right arm of Gamrot. The fighters each held their free arm aloft as Buffer announced Gamrot as the victor.

Tsarukyan’s right arm dropped and his hand fell to his head before sliding to cover his eyes. The 25-year-old sunk to his knees. The announcement he had lost seemed to strike him harder than any of the blows Gamrot landed during the 25-minute contest. At the same time, a look of exhilaration crept across the face of the victorious Gamrot before he screamed in joyous celebration.

The third sentence of that Wide World of Sports intro is not as famous as the words that precede it, but it too seemed to fit the way the fight played out. That sentence is, “The human drama of athletic competition.”

The bout between Gamrot and Tsarukyan had a great deal of drama. The fourth round of the fight was one of those moments. That seems especially true in hindsight, because it seemed as if the results of the fight hinged on those five minutes. With that, I did a deep dive into the scoring of that round, which all three judges — Sal D’Amato, Chris Lee and Ron McCarthy awarded to Gamrot.

For background on the “Scouring the Scoring” series and details on the review process, GO HERE.

According to the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts here is the scoring criteria:

Effective Striking/Grappling

“Legal blows that have immediate or cumulative impact with the potential to contribute towards the end of the match with the IMMEDIATE weighing in more heavily than the cumulative impact. Successful execution of takedowns, submission attempts, reversals and the achievement of advantageous positions that produce immediate or cumulative impact with the potential to contribute to the end of the match, with the IMMEDIATE weighing more heavily than the cumulative impact.”

It shall be noted that a successful takedown is not merely a changing of position, but the establishment of an attack from the use of the takedown.

I believe the scoring of this round hinged on two things. The first is the perceived difference between body strikes and head strikes. Twelve of the 13 significant strikes that Gamrot landed were head strikes. Tsarukyan mixed his strikes. He landed nine head strikes and seven body blows. If visible damage is what the judges are looking for, well, the head and face are almost always going to show more damage than the body. However, that doesn’t mean judges can ignore body strikes. A well-placed body blow can end a fight and even if those strikes don’t cause a stoppage, they can have a cumulative impact on the round.

The second — and more important — thing to consider is how the judges saw the spinning backfist that Tsarukyan landed. The judges do not have replay and are assessing what they see in front of them inside the cage. They have the angle from where they are seated. Watching the fight at full speed and then again slowed down, I believe the judges could have seen the spinning elbow, which was officially scored as generating a knockdown, as a slip or a fall from Gamrot.

Watch the video below for a full breakdown of the entire fourth round:

As Tsarukyan lands the spinning backfist, Gamrot is throwing a body kick with his right leg. I think this is the reason that none of the three men calling the fight for the UFC, Paul Felder, Michael Bisping and Brendan Fitzgerald did not mention the knockdown until they got the chance to watch a replay in their monitors, again, something the judges cannot access.

Felder mentioned that fact later in the round, “Everybody’s got to remember that we looked at that iso shot in our monitors of that spinning backfist, but if you’re calling this live, you don’t have the luxury of that.”

I don’t believe the ground control Gamrot picked up in the round affected the scoring, because he did nothing significant with it other than put Tsarukyan’s leg in an awkward position on the mat.

My scoring for the round was 10-9 in favor of Tsarukyan because his strikes fit the bill of having both immediate and cumulative impact on the round.

With that being said, by no means was scoring the round in favor of Gamrot a robbery, especially if the judges perceived the spinning backfist as a fighter falling from a lack of balance rather than a combatant hitting the deck as a result of a strike.

In the big picture, the lightweight bout between Mateusz Gamrot and Arman Tsarukyan was an incredibly entertaining fight, one where neither fighter should be considered a loser. Both fighters should see their stock rise in the aftermath of their “Fight of the Night” at UFC Vegas 57.

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All the best, most interesting, and unquestionably coolest fights the UFC needs to book following their latest event in Las Vegas, NV.

UFC Vegas 57 delivered mostly as advertised. A card without a lot of star power created some rock-solid, meaningful performances, but not much in the way of truly electric moments. Mateusz Gamrot & Arman Tsarukyan proved they’re both among lightweight’s best scramblers. Shavkat Rakhmonov looked ever bit the part of a future contender. And Umar Nurmagomedov put the bantamweight division on notice.

So, can Gamrot get that Justin Gaethje fight he asked for? Will Stephen Thompson repeat Neil Magny’s mistake? Is there anything we can do to stop Carlos Ulberg from becoming an unstoppable force of handsomeness?

To answer those questions—and a few other things—I’ll be using the classic Silva/Shelby fight booking methodology from the UFC of years past. That means pitting winners against winners, losers against losers, and similarly tenured talent up against one another. Hopefully, by following that model, a few of these bout ideas will actually make it off the page and into the Octagon. Now, let’s get to the fights!

MATEUSZ GAMROT

Whatever fans may have thought of the scorecards, there’s no denying that Mateusz Gamrot absolutely fought his heart out at UFC Vegas 57. The former KSW double-champ kept up an impossibly frenetic wrestling and grappling pace over five rounds, coupled with a regular diet of punches. Off his victory, he seems poised to try for a run at the lightweight elite.

It’s too bad that Gregor Gillespie seems so uninterested in fighting the top 10-5 at 155 right now, because Gamrot vs. Gillespie seems like another badass mirror match of cardio machines. For now, though, I’m just going to assume that fight doesn’t get made. I’ve also seen rumors that the UFC is looking to re-book Dariush vs. Makhachev for sometime this fall. That leaves three clear options I can see: Justin Gaethje, Michael Chandler, and the Fiziev/RDA winner. Gamrot made his intentions clear, with a call-out of Gaethje post-fight, but I don’t honestly think that’s a bout the ‘Highlight’ will care about. Of all the options, Gamrot vs. the Fiziev/RDA winner seems most likely to happen.

ARMAN TSARUKYAN

A rough decision loss for Arman Tsarukyan in a fight he did very, very well in. To my eyes, the Armenian fighter landed the best and most damaging shots in pretty much every round of the fight. But Gamrot did well to keep things close, and get his own punches off, and Tsarukyan did seem to flag a little late. Whether he should have taken the win or not, I can’t imagine the experience will have done him any harm. I expect next time Tsarukyan steps inside the Octagon, he’ll look just that much sharper and more well conditioned. The question is, who’s going to be across the cage from him?

Bouts with Bobby Green, Renato Moicano, or Grant Dawson would all make decent sense. But there are also two bookings upcoming where the winner could be in prime position for a fight like Tsarukyan: Brad Riddell vs. Jalin Turner & Carlos Diego Ferreira vs. Drakkar Klose. Between those, I think the Riddell/Turner fight offers the best possible potential for a thriller. Tsarukyan vs. the Riddell/Turner winner seems like a great option coming off this controversial loss.

SHAVKAT RAKHMONOV

Neil Magny has been a gold standard at welterweight when it comes to separating the pretenders from the contenders for years. He’s always tough, always consistent, and has size and range that a lot of other welterweights aren’t prepared to deal with. Shavkat Rakhmonov looked thoroughly prepared. He snapped Magny’s head back time and time again with jabs, and when the two men clinched up, he proved to be the stronger wrestler and grappler as well. It was all bad news for Magny, who got dominated for almost 10 full minutes before getting tapped in the final seconds of round 2. Four-straight dominating UFC wins to take Rakhmonov’s record to a shiny 15-0.

After the bout, he called out Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson. It’s not a bad call, after all Thompson is still a big name. The kind of callout that could easily come with a Fight Night main event slot. But with Thompson coming off two wrestle-heavy losses, is that a fight he’d want? Bouts with Michael Chiesa, Sean Brady, Michel Pereira, and the Neal/Luque winner would all serve just as well, if not better in terms of competition, but the wouldn’t necessarily come with the same high profile. Given that Holland called for the Brady fight, I’ll say book Rakhmonov vs. Pereira. That’d be a truly fascinating bout. But right now, I just want to see Rakhmonov fight anyone. Get him back in the cage ASAP.

THIAGO MOISES

Christos Giagos was always going to give Thiago Moises a lot of opportunities to work with. It was just a question as to whether or not he could turn those chances into a win. A nifty little trip off a clinch was all Moises needed to get a back take and eventually slap on the rear naked choke. A dominating first round finish for the Brazilian, and a much needed return to form after getting finished in back-to-back fights. After the bout, Moises called out Joe Solecki. Seeing as how both men love to grapple, that seems like a perfect fight, so I’m definitely all about it. If the UFC can’t make that happen, however, I’d love to see him against Ricky Glenn, Claudio Puelles, or Mark O. Madsen. Moises vs. Solecki is a great fight, but there are plenty of other options for the ATT talent.

UMAR NURMAGOMEDOV

Pure domination from Umar Nurmagomedov. Maness proved he was tough and that he could survive for 15 minutes, but that’s about all he got done in a bout where he landed exactly one significant strike. Nurmagomedov picked him off with kicks outside, and countered neatly with takedowns every time Maness tried to bring things into his range. Just a perfectly orchestrated victory for the Dagestani. After that bout it sounds like he wants to rocket up the division as quick as he can. Fights against Adrian Yanez, Chris Gutierrez, Cody Stamann, Rafael Assuncao, or Jonathan Martinez feel like they’d all be good, if not quite giant, leaps forward. But, if the kid is confident, why not give him what he wants? Ricky Simon & Jack Shore have a fight coming up. Nurmagomedov vs. either man would be a major test. Barring that, I’d probably say go with a fight like Stamann, and then look for those top 15 bouts.

CHRIS CURTIS

Chris Curtis’ Octagon career continues to be nothing short of a resounding success. Vieira came out ready to throw 1-2s and hit takedowns behind them, but Curtis stuffed the grappling entirely and forced Vieira into a pure kickboxing bout. It was a fight Vieira did okay with for a solid round, but also the kind of skill test that was always going to steer in the ‘Action Man’’s favor given enough time. By the end of the final round, it felt like Curtis was landing whatever he wanted and Vieira was resigned to attempting to pull guard. After the vicotry, it may be time to start pushing Curtis toward a top 15 kind of booking. Nassourdine Imavov’s bout against Kelvin Gastelum fell apart due to Visa issues. If he can get those solved in the near future, Imavov vs. Curtis is exactly the kind of fight Curtis deserves. If that’s not possible then a bout against Krzysztof Jotko or the Dricus du Plessis vs. Brad Tavares winner would both be strong options.

CARLOS ULBERG

Is it a sign of major improvement for Carlos Ulberg, or just a fluky flash KO? It’s hard to know for sure, but given that it’s the quickest Tafon Nchukwi has ever been finished it’s at least safe to say that ‘Black Jag’ possesses some serious speed and power. His UFC career may have gotten off to a rocky start, but he’s sitting at 2-1 right now and it feels like he’s got some nice momentum going. As for what that means next? Fights against Philipe Lins, Tyson Pedro, or Alonzo Menifield would all make sense. Between those, I’ll say the UFC should go with Ulberg vs. Lins. At one point, Lins seemed like a serious prospect. Can he finally put together back-to-back wins inside the Octagon? Or will Ulberg continue his climb? Ulberg vs. Lins is a solid next step at light heavyweight.

MARIO BAUTISTA

A really terrific performance from Bautista. He took the fight to Kelleher right off the bat with some heavy range strikes, into a well timed takedown, and then another nifty trip into side control after Kelleher got to his feet. That led straight to mount, and right into Kelleher giving up his neck for the RNC. It’s two straight wins for Bautista following his KO loss to Trevin Jones. After the fight, he called for one of the night’s other bantamweight winners. While a booking against Morozov is fine and sensible, I’m never one to lean on pairings from the same fight card. Instead, fights with Heili Alateng or Kyler Phillips would both make sense. But, I’ll say the UFC should book Bautista vs. Davey Grant. Grant’s wildman firepower should make for an absolute war, and a good test for Bautista to make sure he has the chin to really move up the division. Bautista vs. Grant would be a real scrap.

OTHER BOUTS: Neil Magny vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio 2, Josh Parisian vs. William Knight, Alan Baudot vs. Chris Barnett, Christos Giagos vs. Omar Morales, Nate Maness vs. Trevin Jones, Rodolfo Vieira vs. Julian Marquez, Tafon Nchukwi vs. Marcin Prachnio, Shayilan Nuerdanbieke vs. Joanderson Brito, TJ Brown vs. Danny Chavez, Sergey Morozov vs. John Castaneda, Raulian Paiva vs. Khalid Taha, Cody Durden vs. Ode Osbourne, JP Buys vs. Zhalgas Zhumagulov, Brian Kelleher vs. Vince Morales, Vanessa Demopoulos vs. Sam Hughes, Jinh Yu Frey vs. Mizuki Inoue

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Get a unique rundown on all the awards that should have been handed out at UFC Vegas 57.

I received a bit of flack from MMA fandom for my support of Arman Tsarukyan and Mateusz Gamrot being made a five-round main event for a Fight Night card. After the performance the two of them put on at UFC Vegas 57, I feel very vindicated in my evaluation of the contest heading into the event. I had stated it had the potential to be a FOTY candidate and it will proudly say it lived up to that hype. Tsarukyan and Gamrot gave one another all they could handle and produced a show that would have elicited all sorts of cheers had the contest taken place in an arena as opposed to being in the APEX. The rest of the card proved to be solid, producing mostly competitive contests without any major highlights. Fortunately, the main event made up for it. Let’s take a dive into the card, from to top to bottom, with my Unofficial Awards….

For a different perspective of the event, click here. For an audio recap, click here.

Biggest Jump in Stock: I try to avoid putting the victor of the main event in this spot, but given Gamrot was such a sizeable underdog, it’s hard not to slide him into here. Many believed the former two-division KSW champion was bumping up against his ceiling against Tsarukyan. Whether Gamrot was the rightful winner is a reasonable debate to be had, but it can’t be denied that both put on phenomenal performances and that it was a very close contest. Thus, even though both Gamrot and Tsarukyan were impressive enough that both had their stock go up, Gamrot gets a greater benefit of the doubt given he snatched the victory. If he gets his requested callout – Justin Gaethje – there’s no doubt he’ll find himself as the underdog again, a role in which he has been thriving in.

Biggest Fall in Stock: There was reason to be concerned about Neil Magny after his last performance against Max Griffin. Yes, Magny did ultimately win the fight, but the fight was far closer than it was expected to be, many believing the judges robbed Griffin of a rightful victory. It left a question of whether Griffin had improved that much or if Magny had slipped. While no one is going to give Magny too much crap about losing to Rakhmonov, it was the fact that Magny couldn’t land any significant offense in the fight. Magny largely ended up looking like a punching bag. Magny has a lot of fights against high level competition under his belt, meaning it isn’t beyond the pale that he’s nearing the end of his UFC run. I think there are still wins for Magny to be had, but it’s plausible the days of Magny populating the official rankings are a thing of the past.

Start Typing a Resume: I haven’t been a big fan of Alan Baudot. Not that I haven’t recognized the talent the Frenchman possessed, but he was an underachiever. I say was as he put on the best performance of his career against Josh Parisian, coming thisclose to putting the big man away. Unfortunately for Baudot, the referee didn’t stop the fight when it could have been reasonable to do so, allowing Parisian to make a comeback after Baudot had already drained most of his tank.

It looked like the UFC was giving JP Buys every opportunity to find success. He was on the first season of DWCS. When that didn’t work out, he was brought back in season four and earned a contract there, but hasn’t looked good in the least since touching down in the UFC after dropping his first two contests. Now that he’s dropped a third consecutive fight, I don’t see the UFC bringing him back. At 26, Buys is young enough that he could work his way back to the organization, but something needs to change from the status quo for that to happen.

There’s a chance we’ve seen the last of Tafon Nchukwi, but I think he’ll be brought back. Yes, he’s dropped three of his last four, but he’s only 27 in the light heavyweight division, a division in desperate need of depth. Nchukwi’s youth and inexperience should give him some leeway, but I acknowledge there is no guarantee he’ll maintain his spot.

Saved Their Job(s): Parisian needs to send referee Mark Smith a fruit basket as he could have easily stopped the fight in the first round. By making a comeback, Parisian likely saved his UFC employment in the process as he would have dropped three of his last four had Baudot picked up the win. Instead, Parisian evened out his UFC record. I wouldn’t peg Parisian to make a run for the rankings, but he could be an effective gatekeeper.

It could be argued Sergey Morozov would have been on his way out with a loss, but I’m not so sure. Just four fights into his UFC career, he’s faced a murderer’s row of fighters, including the man he just picked up a victory over in Raulian Paiva. That said, his 1-3 record had he fallen to Paiva would have put him on thin ice at the very least. The win ensured the speculation wouldn’t come to pass and Morozov is safe for at least a couple more fights.

Biggest WOW Moment: There were several scrambles in the main event that had me watching with great interest, but given I’m struggling to pick out one in particular without having to go back and re-watch the fight, I figure it doesn’t qualify as a WOW moment. The spinning back-fist was another memorable moment, but it didn’t alter the momentum enough for me to slide it in here. The funny thing is, despite the card being an unqualified success, the amount of jaw-dropping moments was few and far between. Nevertheless, I’ll go with Carlos Ulberg stunning and dropping Nchukwi for his first stoppage win in the UFC. It wasn’t the one-punch KO the UFC loves to show during Baba O’Reilly, but it sure as hell was a nice addition to Ulberg’s personal highlight reel.

Best Callout: There were several fighters who made callouts, an improvement from the status quo. Granted, I wasn’t crazy about all of them. For example, Thiago Moises called out Joe Solecki. While Solecki is a respectable fighter, I would have pegged him a notch or two below Moises’ current status. Let me put it this way: in less than a year, Moises goes from fighting Islam Makhachev to calling out Solecki. It isn’t quite Bret Hart calling out El Dandy, but it doesn’t make sense to me. I didn’t have an issue with Gamrot asking for Gaethje either. Gaethje is the premier action fighter on the roster, so a win over him puts him in the title picture. However, I would have called out Beneil Dariush if I were Gamrot. A win over Dariush would mean roughly the same amount as a win over Gaethje at this stage and it would also eliminate a potential title challenger from the picture should Gamrot emerge victorious. Plus, I’d say Dariush is a more favorable matchup stylistically for Gamrot. But that’s just me….

Regardless, I’ll go with Rakhmonov calling for a fight with Stephen Thompson. Thompson isn’t a title contender any longer, but he still has name value and possesses a unique style that forces fighters to walk into the fight with anything other than a standard strategy. It would be interesting to see what Rakhmonov and his team would come up with to combat Wonderboy. Though I would be favoring Rakhmonov in that fight, Thompson’s striking always leaves open the door for an upset, even if it’s been several years since Thompson secured a stoppage.

Most Improved Stock with a Loss: I’ve already mentioned Tsarukyan for this spot. He fought like an elite fighter in the cage and was well deserving of a win. What sucks for Tsarukyan is the exact same thing could be said of Gamrot. Thus, while I expect Gamrot to jump Tsarukyan in the rankings, I don’t expect anyone else to leap over him despite the loss. However, there was another fighter who looked vastly improved in a loss: Rodolfo Vieira. The BJJ wizard was unable to secure the takedowns needed to take the fight into his world, but he came close to winning even without them. Granted, much of that was due to Chris Curtis needing to respect the takedowns of Vieira – Curtis would piece him up in a straight up kickboxing fight – but that shouldn’t take anything away from Vieira’s performance. He made excellent use of low kicks and landed some heavy shots. Vieira may have lost, but he can walk away with his head held high as he looked like an actual mixed martial artist as opposed to a BJJ guy trying to make it in MMA.

Best Homer Simpson Impression: It’s far from the first time we’ve seen someone pull off the Homer Simpson – where their opponent exhausts themselves in the beating on them without getting the finish – but Parisian’s come-from-behind victory was the most blatant example of this in a long time. Given this style of victory Isn’t conducive to good long-term health, here’s hoping we don’t see Parisian utilize this on the road to another victory.

Most Controversial Decision: For those who only looked at the name fighters on this card, you probably assume I’m going to say the main event. While I’ll address that I believe Tsarukyan was the rightful winner, the contest was close enough that I don’t have a major gripe with the actual outcome. No, I’m looking at the opener between Vanessa Demopoulos and Jinh Yu Frey. It isn’t that it wasn’t a close fight either, but I thought it was pretty obvious that Frey’s steady, consistent attack would be enough to override Demopoulos’ occasional bursts of big offense. Hell, the MMA media agreed with me. Regardless, the judges saw otherwise.

Best Rebound Performance: This was tough. Cody Durden deserved serious consideration for manner in which he disposed of Buys, jumping him early and getting him out of there. But I ultimately went with Moises. It wasn’t just that Moises beat a more proven opponent in Christos Giagos. It was the manner in which he beat him Durden had a degree of luck catching Buys with one of his wild haymakers. Moises dissected Giagos methodically, utilizing his world class BJJ to advance bit by bit to the point he secured an RNC. It was a nice reminder of Moises’ potential after two consecutive losses.

Most Stacked Division: For the longest time, the lightweight division has gotten the reputation as the deepest division in the sport. I haven’t disagreed either. It makes sense, given those who fight there tend to be a bit too small to find big success in other sports that put such an emphasis on size. In other words, the best athletes that would excel in the heavyweight and light heavyweight divisions of MMA are already participating in the NBA and NFL. Can’t blame them; they make a shit ton more money. However, with the rise of MMA’s popularity, the bantamweight division may very well be deeper than lightweight, at least in terms of high-level prospects. The obvious name to point out from UFC Vegas 57 is Umar Nurmagomedov as he turned in a dominant performance over Nate Maness. But it would be foolish to overlook the other two bantamweight contests on the card. Morozov and Paiva turned in what may have been the FOTN had the main event not delivered in the way it did. Plus, Mario Bautista, in what appears to be the most overlooked performance of the evening, disposed of gritty veteran Brian Kelleher in just under half a round. Bautista looks like he’s ready to make a big move, adding yet another talented youngster to the mix at 135.

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Zingano beat Pam Sorenson on Friday night.

Cat Zingano continued her successful start to her Bellator MMA career at Bellator 282 on Friday night, taking a unanimous decision over former Invicta FC featherweight champion Pam Sorenson. The win gave ‘Alpha Cat’ her third straight win in the Bellator cage following victories over Olivia Parker and Gabby Holloway.

After the fight Zingano made it clear that she feels now is the time for her to finally take on Cris Cyborg, who currently holds the Bellator featherweight title.

“I do (think I should get a title shot),” Zingano said to MMA Junkie. “I feel like I’ve done a good job moving up the ranks in Bellator and getting the experience. The environment is here. Me and Cyborg are here. We’ve both been talking about each other for quite a while. Putting it together obviously makes a lot of sense.

“I think we have very different styles, and different styles make awesome match-ups. I think that’s cool and I think it’ll be interesting. We’re both OGs and we both came from training in the same kind of hard-knocks environments to come up and still figuring it out and making it happen.”

Zingano might have to wait to face Cyborg, depending on the condition of her right knee. It appeared as though she may have taken some damage to that area during Friday night’s fight.

When the UFC opened its doors to women’s divisions, it looked as though Zingano may become one of the stars of the company. In 2013, in the UFC’s second ever women’s contests, she mauled future champion Miesha Tate to earn a shot at recently crowned bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey.

However, a serious knee injury ruled Zingano out of the title fight (and a spot coaching opposite Rousey on the first ever The Ultimate Fighter season featuring women).

Zingano returned to action in 2014 and beat Amanda Nunes, another future champion. That earned her the fight with Rousey. However, her title fight lasted just 14 seconds after she dove into an unorthodox armbar.

Zingano only fought four times in the five years that followed. Over that time she beat Marion Reneau, but lost to current bantamweight champion Julianna Pena, Ketlen Vieira and Megan Anderson.

Cris Cyborg won the Bellator featherweight title by beating Julia Budd at Bellator 238 in 2020. That was Cyborg’s debut for the company after being released from the UFC (a promotion where she also won a featherweight title).

Cyborg has defended the Bellator title on four occasions.

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The real winners and losers of UFC Vegas 57

Name recognition might have been low, but the action and talent level were both amazingly high in the main event of Saturday’s UFC Vegas 57 fight card. In that bout, Mateusz Gamrot scored a decision win over Arman Tsarukyan in an action-packed and thrilling 25-minute lightweight scrap.

While the judging seemed to be the major topic of discussion in the immediate aftermath of the contest, the fact is that these two competitors gave it their all in what was a pivotal contest in the division. And while Gamrot got the nod from the judges, it’s difficult to see Tsarukyan as a loser in any way other than the results of the fight. Which is to say, the stock of both men should rise significantly in the wake of their phenomenal showings on Saturday at the UFC Apex.

Speaking of exceptional efforts, Shavkat Rakhmonov, who broke into the welterweight top-15 with his knockout win over Carlston Harris in February, should find himself near — or in — the top-10 next week following his dismantling of Neil Magny in the evening’s co-main event.

Read on for the winners and losers from UFC Vegas 57.

Winners:

Arman Tsarukyan vs. Mateusz Gamrot: The main event of UFC Vegas 57 was an incredible battle. It was the kind of fight where, if one had no rooting interest, there was a feeling of sorrow that one fighter had to lose. In this case, that feeling was amplified by the agony that came through during Michael Bisping’s post-fight interview with a brokenhearted Arman Tsarukyan, who was on the wrong side of the judges scorecards.

The good thing, if there is a good thing about a loss, is that Tsarukyan, who entered the bout as the No. 11 fighter in the official UFC lightweight rankings, should not lose any momentum or standing with the UFC brass. He fought a spectacular 25 minutes in his first five-round outing and judging from his reaction after the bout, the 25-year-old will come out of this event as a better and more complete fighter.

The 31-year-old Gamrot will move up the rankings when they are updated. How far? That’s an interesting question considering the No. 9 ranked Tony Ferguson doesn’t have a win since 2019 and the No. 8 ranked Conor McGregor hasn’t won at 155-pounds since 2016. Whatever the rankings say when they get updated, Gamrot deserves to fight an opponent inside the top 10 and his callout of Justin Gaethje, while ambitious, does not seem totally out of line.

Again, this was an extraordinary fight and one that we may get to see again, because both fighters are still on their way up.

Shavkat Rakhmonov: The undefeated Kazakh rising star passed the Neil Magny test with flying colors. Rakhmonov moved to 16-0 with 16 finishes when he submitted Magny in the waning seconds of Round 2 of their welterweight contest.

Rakhmonov’s patience and composure were noteworthy throughout the fight. He didn’t put himself in dangerous positions via carelessness and he seemed to know that any mistake he made would provide Magny with an opening to mount offense. Rakhmonov did an excellent job of slowing things down and not forcing openings, but waiting for them to happen.

Rakhmonov is ready for an opponent inside the UFC welterweight top-10, however, finding that opponent might be difficult for the UFC matchmakers.

Josh Parisian: Josh Parisian showed a lot of toughness in getting a comeback win over Alan Baudot in their heavyweight matchup, and got a performance bonus too.

Thiago Moises: Thiago Moises got back in the win column following two straight losses. Moises, who has tried mixing his striking with his grappling with mixed success, went back to his grappling to secure the first-round submission win over Christos Giagos. After the fight, Moises said he enjoys brawling, but that he might start using his takedowns and jiu-jitsu as well. The 27-year-old would likely be well served to concentrate on using his base as he did at UFC Vegas 57.

Umar Nurmagomedov: Back at bantamweight after a one-fight foray at featherweight, Umar Nurmagomedov kept his unbeaten record intact with a dominant win at UFC Vegas 57. Nurmagomedov racked up 10:49 of control time while going three-for-four in takedowns and landing 74 percent of his significant strikes.

The only fault, the UFC commentators could find in Nurmagomedov’s performance was that they would have liked to see more aggression on the mat. I can understand that to a point, but once could also say that Nurmagomedov was busy enough and did enough damage to keep the fight where he wanted it to be while not opening himself up to danger.

At 26, Nurmagomedov is still very young, but he seems to be ready for a step in competition against someone who has strong defensive wrestling skills.

Carlos Ulberg: Carlos Ulberg moved to 2-1 in the UFC and got the first knockout of his run with the promotion in impressive fashion. Ulberg is a good offensive striker, something he showed by setting up his KO over Tafon Nchukwi via a jab and then swarming him with powerful followups.

With that being said, Ulberg only has six pro MMA fights to his name. With that, the UFC matchmakers should move him along slowly. After all, his defense was not great in losing to Kennedy Nzechukwu in his UFC debut,

Shayilan Nuerdanbieke vs. T.J. Brown: This was an enjoyable scrap that combined no defense striking with some nice grappling and ground exchanges. In the end, Shayilan Nuerdanbieke got the nod and moved to 2-1 in the UFC.

Sergey Morozov: Sergey Morozov got back in the win column following a submission loss in a “Fight of the Night” bonus-winning contest with a decision win over Raulian Paiva via his wrestling and his opponents inability to defend strikes consistently.

Cody Durden: Cody Durden fought like he had something to prove and in stopping JP Buys via aggressive striking, Durden succeeded. The win was a big bounce back for Durden, who lost to Muhammad Mokaev via submission in under a minute in March.

Mario Bautista: Woah! Mario Bautista was incredibly impressive in earning his first submission win under the UFC banner. Bautista was extremely aggressive with his striking to open his contest opposite Brian Kelleher. When the two went to the clinch, Bautista used a nifty trip to get the fight to the mat, from there, he was exceptionally slick in taking full mount, which led to Kelleher giving up his back and opening the door for Bautista to sneak in a rear-naked choke.

Bautista picked up a unanimous decision win in January after more than a year from the octagon. His win over a veteran like Kelleher should help Bautista get a step up in competition in his next outing.

Paul Felder and Michael Bisping: During the first fight of the night, UFC commentators Michael Bisping and Paul Felder did a marvelous job of speaking about the scoring criteria. While mentioning control time, Felder remarked how control time without damage is not useful in scoring an MMA fight, while Bisping said that the commentary team had a refresher course on scoring criteria before the card. Hopefully, that refresher course becomes the norm, because it will improve the conversation on the scoring criteria. With that being said, the refresher without an open mind will be useless.

City Kickboxing: With members of the City Kickboxing team sitting cageside, Carlos Ulberg scored a first-round knockout win in the final fight on the prelims. That team is represented in a big way at next week’s UFC 276. It was nice to see them sitting at the UFC Apex and supporting their teammate. And if momentum is a thing, Ulberg provided some of that heading into next Saturday’s big fight card.

Losers:

Mateusz Gamrot: It was disheartening to hear Mateusz Gamrot refer to American Top Team owner Dan Lambert as his “boss.” MMA fighters should never think that they work for gym owners or managers, because they don’t. If a fighter is paying a person, that person works for them.

Alan Baudot: Alan Baudot showed a lot of striking power. He also showed zero defensive skills on the mat. It’s unlikely he’ll remain on the UFC roster with no wins over his four fights.

Raulian Paiva: Raulian Paiva needs to work on his striking. He has power, but his defense is lacking when he tries to lead the dance when it comes to striking. Paiva has some decent counters, but when his opponent is patient and forces him to come forward, he struggles.

Mark Smith: Referee Mark Smith allowed JP Buys to take a lot of undefended strikes before he waved off the Buys vs. Durden scrap. Once Buys was rocked, his defense was not good.

UFC rankings: There’s no reason to have Tony Ferguson and Conor McGregor in the top-10 in the lightweight division in 2022. It feels like the rankings panel is giving these two far too much credit for past accomplishments and that’s not what the rankings should be about.

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