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Virna Jandiroba scored a much needed victory at UFC Vegas 54.

It sounds like former Invicta strawweight champion Virna Jandiroba took a serious weight off her shoulders at UFC Vegas 54. Coming off a loss to Amanda Ribas in her last outing, ‘Carcara’ managed to avoid a dreaded two-fight skid by besting Angela Hill via unanimous decision in the preliminary portion of the card.

In an interview with Combate, Jandiroba explained that she rarely handles defeat well, so it was a major relief to fight her way to a win on Saturday night in Las Vegas. With a victory once again under her belt, Virna feels ready to restart her climb towards the division’s peak.

“I feel really happy that I won again. I was coming off a loss, and those make me think a lot. Losses mess with me a lot, mentally,” Jandiroba admitted. “That win was important so I could recover my confidence. It was a win about myself, that’s key.”

“She was very resilient, but it didn’t surprise me.” She added, speaking of Hill. “If you take a look at Angela Hill’s track record, you’ll see how tough she is. I’m a fan of hers. She left the UFC, then went to Invicta, then got hired again. It’s a beautiful journey. There’s a lot of strength in there, so it doesn’t surprise me.”

Jandiroba first entered the UFC back in 2019, fresh off the first defense of her Invicta strawweight title. Her debut came in a loss to current champion Carla Esarza. Since dropping that fight, the Brazilian has run up a 4-2 record in the Octagon, with victories over fellow former Invicta champ Kanako Murata and longtime veteran Felice Herrig, alongside losses to Amanda Ribas and current top contender Mackenzie Dern.

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Check out the UFC Vegas 55 fight card and bout order.

The last UFC event of the month is on May 21st, as usual from the APEX in Las Vegas. In the main event, former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm looks to keep herself in title contention against Brazilian contender Ketlen Vieira. The co-main event should be a doozy between welterweight strikers Santiago Ponzinibbio and Michel Pereira.

Another sneaky good fight on the main card is Chidi Njokuani against Dusko Todorovic, while Chase Hooper makes his return on the preliminary card versus Felipe Colares.

Here’s the bout order for UFC Vegas 55:

Main Card (7 PM ET, ESPN+)

Holly Holm vs. Ketlen Vieira

Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Michel Pereira

Chidi Njokuani vs. Dusko Todorovic

Polyana Viana vs. Tabatha Ricci

Eryk Anders vs. Jun Yong Park

Preliminary Card (4 PM ET, ESPN+)

Joseph Holmes vs. Alen Amedovski

Parker Porter vs. Jailton Almeida

Omar Morales vs. Uros Medic

Jonathan Martinez vs. Vince Morales

Chase Hooper vs. Felipe Colares

Elise Reed vs. Sam Hughes

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The Tajik government accused Chorshanbe Chorshanbiev of “inciting national and regional hatred,” as well as “inciting riots.”

An MMA fighter who was deported back to his native Tajikistan from the Russian Federation has been jailed for protesting the treatment of a local minority group.

Chorshanbe Chorshanbiev, a middleweight fighter with a 6-3 professional record, was handed an eight-year jail sentence by the High Court of the Ismoili Somoni district in Dushanbe on charges of “inciting ethnic, racial, or religious hatred” as well as “public calls for violent change of the constitutional order.”

According to the Prosecutor General’s office, Chorshanbiev allegedly published “provocative” social media posts and was “engaged in inciting national and regional hatred,” as well as “inciting riots.”

Chorshanbiev’s alleged crimes date back to January 2020, when he was engaged in a war of words with Russian fighter Nikita Solonin. When Solonin referred to Chorshanbiev as a “Tajik fighter,” Chorshanbiev appeared to take issue with that statement and revealed that he belongs to an ethnically distinct minority group from the Gorno-Badakhshan region of Tajikistan.

“What do you mean Tajik? I’m not Tajik. You want to see a Tajik, look in the mirror,” Chorshanbiev said at the time. “I am a Pamiri, written in big letters. Remember that forever.”

The Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) is populated by the Pamiri people, an ethnic and religious Ismaili Shia minority in Sunni-majority Tajikistan. The region became part of the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic in the 1920s and later morphed into part of the modern Tajik state.

Amidst the 1992-1997 civil war in Tajikistan, the region emerged as an opposition stronghold, with many ethnic Pamiris siding against the central government. That tension continued to fester, most recently in November 2021 when a standoff with the central government took place after a police officer fatally shot a local resident.

Chorshanbiyev took to social media at the time to voice his support for residents of the Gorno-Badakhshan region.

“I urge you to stand up against injustice and against the unjust death of innocent people,” he said.

Chorshanbiyev’s support for the minority group was enough to trigger criminal charges by Tajik authorities. The fighter was living in Moscow at the time but was deported by Russian authorities after local police caught him speeding in January 2022. Critics suggest that Chorshanbiyev’s deportation was done at the request of the Tajik government.

It appears the MMA fighter will now serve a lengthy jail sentence for daring to speak out against the Tajik authorities.

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Another Holyfield badly lost at a Triller event.

Evan Holyfield, son of the legendary Evander Holyfield, came into his bout this Saturday’s TrillerVerse 5 as a -10,000 betting favorite. The 24-year-old Holyfield was 9-0 and matched up against a 6-5 journeyman, but their records and the insanely wide betting odds didn’t matter.

In the second round of their contest, journeyman Jurmain McDonald scored a sensational upset, landing a big right hand that put Holyfield out. The referee initially started counting, but waved the fight off as it was clear that Holyfield wasn’t going to beat the count and continue fighting.

It seemed like a pretty fair stoppage despite Holyfield’s protests after.

Watch the upset knockout below:

The loss also means now both father and son have suffered bad losses at Triller in the past eight months.

Last September, Evander Holyfield returned to competition at 58-years-old, and was put into a horrible match up against the much younger and far more active fighter in Vitor Belfort. Holyfield predictably lost by first round TKO, in a bout that athletic commissions wouldn’t sanction and clearly shouldn’t have happened in the first place.

TrillerVerz 5’s headliner saw Sergey Kovalev defeat Tervel Pulev by decision in his cruiserweight debut.

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Professional fighters criticized Tony Kelley for what he said about Brazilian people at UFC Vegas 54.

UFC bantamweight Tony Kelley did not respond in the best way to the criticism following his prejudiced comments towards Brazilian people at UFC Vegas 54. After getting caught on camera calling Brazilians cheaters — he also said they’re “dirty f—king Brazilians — while cornering Andrea Lee, the MMA community shared their thoughts on the matter.

In fact, many fighters who criticized Kelley for the xenophobic comments tweeted their support for Tony’s next opponent – Adrian Yanez – as the pair is prepared to square off on June 18.

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Amanda Ribas’ father says fighter suffered ‘total rupture of the biceps tendon’ ahead of UFC Vegas 54 .

Amanda Ribas lost her flyweight fight to Katlyn Chookagian on Saturday at UFC Vegas 54. However, considering what she went through to get to fight night and the questions she ahead of — and during — the 15-minute scrap, Ribas can take some solace in the fact that she was able to contribute toward the fight winning “Fight of the Night” bonus honors.

Ribas, who is the No. 9 ranked fighter in the official UFC strawweight rankings, moved up to 125 pounds to challenge the No. 1 ranked Chookagian at UFC Vegas 54. Ribas hoped that a win over the former title challenger would put her on the fast track to a bout opposite the winner of the upcoming UFC 275 contest between flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko and No. 4 ranked challenger Taila Santos.

That plan didn’t work out as Chookagian took home the split decision win. According to Ribas’ father, no one knew what to expect from Ribas once the octagon door was locked and action commenced on Saturday night.

“A very stressful month,” Marcelo wrote on Instagram. “A golden opportunity to fight world number one. At 25 days, an injury ‘total rupture of the biceps tendon’ comes in, then physical therapy 3 times a day to try to get [her] to fight. … 25 days without training our strength which is jiu jitsu and judo. And we’d arrive in Las Vegas not knowing if we’d be able to handle grappling or wrestling on the ground.”

With the loss, it is unclear if Ribas, who has a 2020 submission win over Paige VanZant at flyweight on her UFC flyweight record, will compete at 115 pounds or 125 going forward.

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The real winners and losers from UFC Vegas 54

Jan Blachowicz probably wanted his fight against Aleksandar Rakic to end in a more definitive manner, but sometimes, it’s best just to take what happens and move on. It seems as if that is what the former light heavyweight champion is going to do after UFC Vegas 54.

Blachowicz’s goal was to get the win against Rakic, hold on to his No. 1 spot in the official UFC light heavyweight rankings and set himself up for a potential rematch against the man who took the title from him, Glover Teixeira. Blachowicz realized his goal when a knee injury stopped Rakic in the third stanza of their contest. Now, he’ll wait and see if Teixeira can successfully defend his title against No. 2 ranked Jiri Prochazka at UFC 275.

In the co-main event of UFC Vegas 54, Ryan Spann earned a first round submission win over Ion Cutelaba.

Read on for the winners and losers from UFC Vegas 54, which took place at UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Winners:

Jan Blachowicz vs. Aleksandar Rakic: Jan Blachowicz and Aleksandar Rakic were involved in a competitive scrap in the main event of UFC Vegas 54. Blachowicz did a nice job of using punch combinations and low kicks to slow down his opponent in the first round, while Rakic controlled the fight on the mat in the second stanza. However, the contest was cut short when a knee injury sent Rakic tumbling to the mat in the early moments of the third round. With Rakic in pain on the mat, the referee waved off the fight, giving Blachowicz the win.

The outcome was less than ideal, but both fighters fought to their strengths for as long as the contest lasted and the sportsmanship that was shared at the end of the bout was refreshing.

Ryan Spann: Ryan Spann bounced back from a submission loss to Anthony Smith with a submission win of his own. Ion Cutelaba put Spann in some bad spots in the early going of this matchup, but a missed strike gave Spann the opening he needed to grab onto a guillotine choke and force a submission from Cutelaba at 2:22 of the first stanza.

Spann showed good awareness in getting the stoppage and him not getting frustrated when things weren’t going his way says a lot about him as a fighter, especially since he was coming off a first-round stoppage loss.

Davey Grant: Davey Grant ended a two-fight losing skid in a big way on Saturday. Grant, coming off decision losses to Marlon Vera and Adrian Yanez, scored a knockout win over the very game Louis Smolka in the third stanza of their bantamweight scrap.

Smolka took the head and body strikes that Grant offered in the first two stanzas, but the leg kicks that Grant used through the first ten minutes added up and dropped Smolka at the start of the third and once Grant got Smolka down, it didn’t take long for him to get the finish.

Grant might not win every fight, but he’s one of those fighters who will give fans their money worth when he’s on a card as his growing list of post-fight bonus awards can attest.

Katlyn Chookagian: Katlyn Chookagian likely held onto her No. 1 ranking in the UFC flyweight division with a win over Amanda Ribas. Chookagian’s length and reach and Ribas’ lackluster striking defense were the main reasons Chookagian won the contest and extended her winning streak to four straight.

Manuel Torres: Manuel Torres picked up a win in his official UFC debut and he did so in a most violent manner. Torres’ power seemed to give his opponent. Frank Camacho, problems from the opening moments of the fight. That power left Camacho attempting five takedowns before the power of his foe ended the fight at the 3:27 mark of Round 1.

Torres looked very good and his striking was devastatingly effective.

Allan Nascimento: Allan Nascimento got his first UFC win on Saturday. He earned that victory over the favored Jake Hadley thanks to his takedowns and incredibly heavy top game.

Viviane Araujo: Andrea Lee nearly finished Viviane Araujo in the early going of the first round of their flyweight bout, but came back strong and just started piecing up Lee with an effective jab. Araujo showed heart and resilience in bouncing back for the decision win.

Michael Johnson: Michael Johnson earned his first win since October 2018 with a knockout win over Alan Patrick. I won’t go as far as UFC commentator Brendan Fitzgerald and proclaim that Johnson is “back,” after all his record dating back to August 2015 is 4-9 with the UFC, but he got a big win and he will likely get another opportunity to fight inside the octagon.

Virna Jandiroba: Virna Jandiroba bounced back from an October loss to Amanda Ribas with a dominant win over Angela Hill. Jandiroba used her strength and submission skills to neutralize Hill and she should earn a step up in competition with her win.

Tatsuro Taira: Tatsuro Taira is a very good young fighter, who might have been under the radar ahead of UFC Vegas 54. He is incredibly comfortable, composed and confident in the cage. He is a dangerous grappler who uses a kickboxing style and distance to set up his takedowns. At 22, Taira has a lot of time to develop and I do think he needs to develop on the feet, but he’s an up-and-coming flyweight to watch.

Andre Petroski: My thoughts on Andre Petroski entering his fight against Nick Maximov at UFC Vegas 54 were that he had a good chance at winning the contest. Petroski and Maximov are both still getting their feet under them in the UFC, but Petroski’s good wresting background coupled with his aggression made him a very live underdog in my mind. I didn’t think Petroski would choke Maximov out early in the first round, as grappling has been the one thing Maximov has excelled at. Andre Petroski had an impressive performance at UFC Vegas 54.

Glover Teixeira: In a sport where trash talk is the norm, it was refreshing to see UFC light heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira encouraging the man he took the title from, Jan Blachowicz, prior to his main event matchup against Aleksandar Rakic at UFC Vegas 54.

Losers:

Amanda Ribas: Amanda Ribas took a calculated risk in moving up to flyweight to face the No. 1 ranked Katlyn Chookagian at UFC Vegas 54. The risk did not pay off as Chookagian picked up a split-decision win. Ribas had a sound game plan for the fight. She wanted to pressure Chookagian on the feet and take the fight to the mat when she could. However, she gave Chookagian enough openings on the feet to score with her striking.

Jake Hadley: Came into UFC Vegas 54 with a fair amount of hype and an unbeaten record. He left the Octagon with his hype diminished and a loss.

Hadley is only 25. I hope he and his team look at the setback to the older and more experienced Allan Nascimento as a learning experience. There were positives from Hadley in this fight, but Nascimento outclassed him in the grappling in this contest.

Andrea Lee & Tony Kelley: UFC fighter Tony Kelley was in the corner of Andrea Lee during her bout opposite Viviane Araujo. Kelley’s brand of inspiration to his fighter came across as well, gross.

“That’s what they do. They’re dirty f—king Brazilians,” said Kelley. “They’re going to cheat like that.”

Angela Hill: I was surprised to see that Angela Hill’s loss to Virna Jandiroba dropped her to three straight losses and put her on a 1-5 run. Hill is one of the more active fighters and is always willing to scrap. That fact, along with her popularity, might earn her the opportunity to fight again with the UFC, but she needs to get back in the win column.

Nick Maximov: I was shocked by the odds of this one, considering that Nick Maximov has looked, at best, one-dimensional during his UFC run. Yes, he entered the contest with an unbeaten record and an affiliation with the Diaz brothers, but outside of those two items, nothing stood out about Maximov. Now, after getting choked unconscious against an opponent, Andrei Petroski, who he was a significant favorite over, Maximov’s stock is going to drop.

Dominick Cruz: Dominick Cruz continues to be loudly, confidently and embarrassingly wrong when it comes to discussing the scoring criteria for MMA. He was practically belligerent in defending “control time” during the Katlyn Chookagian vs. Amanda Ribas fight.

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Tony Kelley made the comment while cornering Andrea Lee at last night’s UFC Vegas 54.

At last night’s UFC Vegas 54 Andrea Lee lost a unanimous decision to Viviane Araujo. However, the fight itself has been overshadowed by what was said in Lee’s corner between rounds.

Cameras caught her boyfriend, and fellow UFC fighter, Tony Kelley making a disparaging remark against Araujo and all Brazilians.

“That’s what they’re gonna do, they’re dirty fucking Brazilians,” Kelley said. “They’re gonna fucking cheat like that. Guess what? We came to fuck somebody up.”

Later on Kelley took to Twitter to defend what he said, writing “Cancel Culture is real.”

“What I said was real and in the heat of battle, and in no way had any type of racist connotations meant…but if that’s the way you take it, [I don’t give a fuck]. So many people quick to say racist..that shits getting so old. My reference was to a dirty eye poke.”

Cancel Culture is a term used to describe a contemporary moral panic where people believe they will lose comfort and opportunities (or ‘be cancelled’) because of something they have done or said. Prior to the term being popularized by conservative media, this process was simply referred to as being held accountable for one’s actions.

In many instances, the repercussions of ‘Cancel Culture’ felt by those who decry its use are limited to being criticized on online platforms. They most often remain within positions of power and able to earn a living.

In this case, given the UFC’s track record, it is very unlikely that Kelley will be released from the promotion over this comment or be removed from his scheduled bout with Adrian Yanez at UFC Fight Night: Kattar vs. Emmett in June.

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Check out which fighters won performance bonuses from UFC Vegas 54: Blachowicz vs. Rakic

The APEX Center in Las Vegas Nevada was home to a great evening of fights at UFC Vegas 54: Blachowicz vs. Rakic. The card saw four (T)KOs, two submissions, and five decisions, including one split-decision.

FOTN: Chookagian vs. Ribas

POTN: Spann, Torres

The preliminary card opened with Andre Petroski nabbing a sensational first-round submission over Nick Maximov. The anaconda choke came just 76 seconds into the fight. Tatsuro Taira showed why he’s such a highly touted prospect when he dominated Carlos Candelario for the majority of their very entertaining fight. Virna Jandiroba used effective grappling to take a lopsided unanimous decision victory from Angela Hill, giving the struggling kickboxer her third, straight loss. Hill has only won a single bout in her last six bouts. Michael Johnson took Alan Patrick into the second round before finishing him with punches after a huge bomb started the sequence. Entertaining end to an entertaining fight. Johnson gets his first win since 2018. Viviane Araujo defeated Andrea Lee via unanimous decision to the chagrin of Lee’s cornerman, UFC fighter Tony Kelley. Kelley decided to refer to Araujo as a “dirty Brazilian” while giving advice between rounds. Appears as though Ms. Lee has a type.

Preliminary Card (ESPN/ESPN+, 7:30 PM ET)

• Viviane Araujo def. Andrea Lee by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-27, 29-27)
• Michael Johnson def. Alan Patrick by KO (punches) at 3:22 of Round 2
• Virna Jandiroba def. Angela Hill by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
• Tatsuro Taira def. Carlos Candelario by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
• Andre Petroski def. Nick Maximov by submission (anaconda choke) at 1:16 of Round 1

Allan Nascimento took a unanimous decision victory after dominating Jake Hadley for the majority of the fight. Aggressive grappling was the name of the game and Nascimento’s size also proved advantageous in securing the victory. Manuel Torres needed just three-and-a-half minutes to put Frank Camacho away, taking the win via TKO after a barrage of punches ended the Guamanian’s night. Camacho also ends up with just one win in his last six fights and this loss marks three-in-a-row. Katlyn Chookagian managed to take a hard-fought, split-decision victory, this time against Amanda Ribas, showing once again why she remains in the Top 4. Davey Grant separated Louis Smolka from consciousness in the third round after a very entertaining scrap that saw Smolka almost out in the first round. Both men traded ferociously, but it be Smolka finally wilting under the constant barrage. Grant breaks a two-fight losing skid in the process. Ryan Spann wasted no time at all getting a guillotine locked onto Ion Cutelaba, getting back in the W column after suffering a defeat last September at the hands of Anthony Smith. Great rebound!

The main event saw a competitive, albeit slow-paced fight between Jan Blachowicz and Aleksandar Rakic. The men were likely even heading into the third round when Rakic stepped back on his right leg, wincing immediately in pain, then falling over, grasping his knee, which is likely blown. Blachowicz got the win, even after a massive cut looked like it could end the fight early.

Main Card (ESPN2/ESPN+, 10 PM ET)

• Jan Blachowicz def. Aleksandar Rakic by TKO at 1:11 of round three
• Ryan Spann def. Ion Cutelaba by Sub (guillotine) at 2:22 of Round 1
• Davey Grant def. Louis Smolka by KO (punches) at :49 of Round 3
• Katlyn Chookagian def. Amanda Ribas by split-decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Manuel Torres def. Frank Camacho by TKO (punches) at 3:27 of Round 1
• Allan Nascimento def. Jake Hadley by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)

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Join us here at Bloody Elbow for live results and discussion as UFC Vegas 54: Font vs. Vera goes down from the promotion’s APEX facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The main event for this fight night is a light heavyweight bout between former champion Jan Blachowicz and top-5 contender Aleksandar Rakic. Co-main event action pits Ryan Spann against Ion Cutelaba in another light heavyweight contest. The prelims have a pair of key women’s matchups, with Virna Jandiroba taking on Angela Hill at strawweight, while Andrea Lee takes on Viviane Araujo at flyweight.

This will be an ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN+ show. All that’s missing is ESPN8: The Ocho. The five-fight preliminary card is scheduled to start at 7:30 PM ET/4:30 PM PT on ESPN and ESPN+. The six-fight main card then kicks off at 10 PM ET/7 PM PT on ESPN2 and ESPN+.

Main Card (ESPN2/ESPN+, 10 PM ET)

Jan Blachowicz vs. Aleksandar Rakic

Ryan Spann vs. Ion Cutelaba

Davey Grant vs. Louis Smolka

Katlyn Chookagian vs. Amanda Ribas

Frank Camacho vs. Manuel Torres

Jake Hadley vs. Allan Nascimento

Preliminary Card (ESPN/ESPN+, 7:30 PM ET)

Viviane Araujo def. Andrea Lee by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-27, 29-27)

Michael Johnson def. Alan Patrick by KO (punches) at 3:22 of Round 2

Virna Jandiroba def. Angela Hill by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)

Tatsuro Taira def. Carlos Candelario by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)

Andre Petroski def. Nick Maximov by submission (Anaconda choke) at 1:16 of Round 1

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