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Check out the full fight video highlights of Yaroslav Amosov vs. Logan Storley  2 from the Bellator 291 main event.

The top of the Bellator 291 main card got witnessed a title unification bout that involved the returning champion, Yaroslav Amosov, pitching a shutout against the interim champ, Logan Storley, across five rounds.

After he captured the welterweight title in 2021, Amosov felt a personal call to duty over in his homeland of Ukraine. During his time away, Storley stepped in and won himself the interim title, but now the king is back!

Amosov had a strong start, appearing light on his feet while being the sharper striker. Storley was finding himself at range, having a lot of difficulty closing the distance do to the jousting strikes of Amosov. Yaroslav continued to look great in the second stanza. He kept Storley on the end of his strikes, which gave him enough time to recognize the takedown attempts. Storley was also eating a ton of leg kicks, which wasn’t helping him close the distance either.

The out-classing dripped right into the latter rounds. Amosov was still launching his strikes, and stuffing the takedowns. It was actually Amosov who came up with a takedown on Storley in the third. Credit to Storley for hanging tough, but this was one way traffic. In fact, this might be as great as we have ever seen Amosov. For him to be able to do this to Logan is about as impressive as it gets. Time to start the conversation to debate who is the best welterweight on the planet!

About the author: Eddie Mercado has covered combat sports since 2015. He covers everything from betting odds to live events and fighter interviews. He holds a 1-0 record in pro MMA and holds a purple belt in Jiu-Jitsu. (full bio)

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Tony Martin was arrested in Florida in December

Former UFC fighter Tony Martin (aka Anthony Rocco Martin) was due in court in Lee County, Florida, on February 22 to face the misdemeanor charge of assault on a law enforcement officer. However, Martin waived his right to a speedy trial on that date and his case was continued. He is now scheduled to appear before a judge, via Zoom, on April 5 for a docket sounding hearing.

Martin, who fought for the UFC between 2014-2020 and last competed under the CES banner, was arrested on December 21, 2022, in Bonita Springs, Florida, after the Lee County Sheriff’s Office responded to an abandoned 911 call. According to the police report, which Bloody Elbow obtained, the deputies had “just previously been at this location for a verbal disturbance.”

Once at the address, deputies encountered a crying “white female” in a black Ford Expedition, who told them that “she just wanted to leave.”

Martin then reportedly approached the deputies and told them to “get off my f–king property right now.” When told that an active investigation was underway, Martin, who “appeared inebriated,” added, “I don’t care, and if you touch me, I will kick your ass.” Martin then allegedly “continued to escalate yelling and shouting statements such as, ‘I hate cops and you can suck my d—k.’”

Martin was arrested and booked into the Lee County Justice Center at 5:16 am. He was bonded out of custody later that day, with a bail set at $ 5,000.

In January, Martin’s lawyer requested the GPS monitor her client had been fitted with be removed because the device “interferes with him wearing steal [sic] toe boots. Additionally, the GPS monitor digs into the Defendant’s skin, causing major discomfort while working construction.”

Online records indicate that the court denied Martin’s request in early February.

Martin’s April court appearance is a docket sounding hearing, which is a pre-trial hearing where the parties involved appear before a judge to discuss the status of the case and set a trial date.

Martin has asked for a jury trial and filed a not-guilty plea on the charge, which carries a penalty of 60 days to six months plus fines.

About the author: Trent Reinsmith is a freelance writer based out of Baltimore, MD. He has been covering sports for more than 15 years, with a focus on MMA for most of that time. (full bio)

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See who we are picking in the latest celebrity boxing brouhaha.

The Jake Paul show is back again this weekend. The co-star this time around is Tommy Fury. He’s auditioned twice before, but failed to make it to showtime thanks to various ‘schedule conflicts’. Anyways, he’s here now and he has a chance to do what no one else has done yet, shut up Jake Paul.

Love him or loathe him ‘The Problem Child’ has thoroughly disrupted combat sports in the past few years and he’s put together a not totally underwhelming pro boxing record in the process. He’s beaten three former UFC champs and a two-time slam dunk champion, too!

Now he gets to face a Love Island alum.

So who will win? According to us it’s the younger brother of a much bigger star. Check out our reasoning below. And please add your picks and predictions in the comments (even if you’re hoping for a double KO and a city-wide power outage in Riyadh).

Jake Paul vs. Tommy Fury

Anton Tabuena: I think it’s funny that this is being billed as the first time Paul fights an “actual boxer,” when Fury’s actually a much worse boxer than the “MMA guy” in Silva, and probably Woodley too. This will most likely be ugly technically, but Paul has been improving and has more things going for him with better basics and actual power. Jake Paul by TKO.

Zane Simon: Here’s the thing, Jake Paul might be a carnival barker’s idea of a boxing attraction, but there are a couple of things at this point that he’s made abundantly clear. For one, he has long term boxing aspirations that include testing himself in the sport. For two, he actually works pretty hard at it. The fact that he’s been able to rope a bunch of 16 year olds into paying for what would be curtain-jerker bouts under any kind of real big boxing event speaks to a whole number of other cultural trends. And the fact that he’s crafted his entire personality up to (and through) his boxing career on manufactured insincerity makes it real hard to take him seriously. But the improvement is clear, as are the steady steps up in competition. For Fury, he’s an okay boxer living in the shadow of a legend, and it definitely doesn’t seem like even his own family thinks he works hard enough. I’ll take Jake Paul by decision.

Dayne Fox: Tommy ain’t Tyson by any stretch of the imagination. Not to say that Tommy doesn’t have some talent, but he wouldn’t be bothering with the reality TV stuff he’s dabbled in if he wanted to come anywhere close to matching his brother’s legacy. I get that’s a bit of a lousy reason to pick Paul given he started as a social media star, but Paul has proven he’s serious about the sport. Well, at least in combat sports. Perhaps he’ll find his hand in too many cookie jars at some point, but I don’t see that happening quite yet. He’s still got room to improve and given the rate that he has done so thus far, he should be able to outpoint Tyson’s baby brother. Paul via decision

Lukasz Fenrych: It’s always a little tricky predicting fights between novice boxers. There’s always the chance that one of them is just sharper in ways we haven’t seen yet and smacks the other one out of the building. That said, Tommy Fury appears to think he deserves the win because he’s a Fury, and if he takes that attitude into the ring with him he’ll be in trouble. Ultimately, from what we’ve seen of them so far, Paul has focused on doing a few things. He keeps his chin tucked, he jabs well, and he has a nice straight right hand down the pipe. Tommy, meanwhile, tries a lot of different things, but he’s so raw that a lot of it amounts to vaguely waving his hands around with his chin in the air. If he does that here, he’s likely to walk on to something eventually. Paul via KO in the middle rounds

Tim Bissell: This is still a squash match, orchestrated by Paul. He knows he can beat Fury, otherwise he wouldn’t be here. This is just a workout for the Nate Diaz fight that is around the corner. Fury has a name, but a fighter that does not make. Paul seems to have actually put the work in and he’s got enough in his locker to get a stoppage here. Paul via TKO

Staff picking Paul: Anton, Eddie, Zane, Kristen, Dayne, Lukasz, Bissell, Paul
Staff picking Fury: Lucas

About the author: Tim Bissell is a writer, editor and deputy site manager for Bloody Elbow. He has covered combat sports since 2015. Tim covers news and events and has also written longform and investigative pieces. (full bio)

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An ADCC legend grapples a physical monster at the top of a stacked Who’s Number One card.

Saturday’s BJJ showcase is on, despite a medically sidelined Gordon Ryan. Former pal Nick Rodriguez steps in to face Felipe Pena at Who’s Number One’s main event in Costa Mesa, CA.

Supporting these two juggernauts is a who’s who of martial arts elite. JT Torres makes his WNO debut against Gracie Barra’s Magid Hage, and Pedro Marinho defends his light heavyweight title against the always game Giancarlo Bodoni. Jasmine Rocha returns from her Midwest Finishers appearance to take on No-Gi Pans champ Amanda Bruse, as New Wave BJJ’s Oliver Taza faces Atos star Jonnatas Gracie.

The prelims will stream live on YouTube and Facebook at 9pm ET, with the main card streaming on FloGrappling.com an hour later.

Undercard:

• Thien Luu-Nguyen vs Dominic Meija
• Stephen Martinez vs Calon Sabino

Main Card:

• Rene Sousa vs Kieran Kichuk
• Jasmine Rocha vs Amanda Bruse
• Oliver Taza vs Jonnatas Gracie
• JT Torres vs Magid Hage

Co-main (light heavyweight title bout):

Pedro Marinho (c) vs Giancarlo Bodoni

Main Event:

Nick Rodriguez vs Felipe Pena

About the author: Kevin Bradley is a Jersey-based grappling journalist for Bloody Elbow. He began writing for the site in 2022, and has covered both BJJ and MMA news since 2018. (full bio)

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The potential title challenger likes her chances against the champion, especially if the fight hits the ground. 

Erin Blanchfield clearly feels she’s in a prime position to challenge for the UFC flyweight championship.

This past Saturday, Blanchfield submitted Jéssica Andrade via second-round rear-naked choke at UFC Vegas 69 in one of the best performances of her career so far. After the win, ‘Cold Blooded’ said she wanted the winner of Valentina Shevchenko vs. Alexa Grasso next.

“I think this fight puts me right in line for the next title shot,” said Blanchfield on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani. “Taila [Santos] was supposed to fight me and she pulled out at the last minute and then Manon [Fiorot] is hurt for a while. Valentina and Grasso are fighting [at UFC 285] literally in like a week and a half or so. I think having me fight for the title next just makes sense.”

Since her arrival in the UFC, Blanchfield set her sights on being the one to dethrone Shevchenko. Throughout her reign, only one fighter has come close to doing that: Taila Santos.

In their fight at UFC 275 this past June, the Brazilian found success on the ground. She had Shevchenko in several compromising positions and fending off submission attempts over the course of five rounds. Though she dealt with the adversity and eked out a split decision, the ‘Bullet’ had her grappling called into question.

Seeing Santos’ success against Shevchenko seems to have confirmed what Blanchfield feels she already knew about the champion.

“Valentina, I don’t think it’s any secret her striking is very good,” said Blanchfield. “Her Muay Thai is very crisp. She even has some decent body lock takedowns. But I think on the actual floor, her jiu-jitsu, it’s not bad. It’s just very, very basic. I don’t think she has many submissions. I don’t think she can get out from certain positions very well, like what we saw against Taila. I kind of think that’s where her game is probably the most basic and probably could use some improvement.

“I know I could fight with Valentina anywhere, but against anybody in the flyweight division, I know that my jiu-jitsu is better,” continued Blanchfield. “I can finish anybody.”

With her recent win, Blanchfield improved to 5-0 in the UFC.

About the author: Kristen King is a writer for Bloody Elbow. She has covered combat sports since 2016. (full bio)

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See what happened on the scales before UFC Vegas 70!

The UFC is back in the APEX facility this weekend for the latest edition of UFC Vegas something something. This time around they have light heavyweights in the main event with Nikita Krylov meeting Ryan Spann.

The co-main event for this one is a middleweight clash between the streaking Andre Muniz and Brendan Allen. Also on the main card is the return of former TUF winner Tatiana Suarez. She meets Montana De La Rosa in the flyweight division.

Flyweights are headlining the prelim card, too, with Gabriella Fernandes taking on Jasmine Jasudavicius. The prelims also have Jordan Leavitt vs. Victor Martinez and Nurullo Aliev vs. Rafael Alves.

But before the fists can fly, we need to see these fighters in their skivvies.

You can watch the weigh-ins below. The live stream starts at 12 p.m. ET and runs until 2.

Full fight card

Main card (8 p.m. ET on ESPN+)

• Light heavyweight: Nikita Krylov (206) vs. Ryan Spann (205)
• Middleweight: Andre Muniz (186) vs. Brendan Allen (186)
• Heavyweight: Augusto Sakai vs. Don’Tale Mayes (261.5)
• Flyweight: Tatiana Suarez (125) vs. Montana De La Rosa (125.5)
• Welterweight: Mike Malott (171) vs. Yohan Lainesse (171)

Prelim card (4 p.m. ET on ESPN+)

• Lightweight: Erick Gonzalez (156) vs. Trevor Peek (155.5)
• Flyweight: Jasmine Jasudavicius (125.5) vs. Gabriella Fernandes (126)
• Lightweight: Jordan Leavitt (155.5) vs. Victor Martinez (154.5)
• Catchweight (130lbs): Ode Osbourne (130) vs. Charles Johnson
• Lightweight: Joe Solecki (155.5) vs. Carl Deaton (156)
• Lightweight: Nurullo Aliev vs. Rafael Alves
• Bantamweight: Hailey Cowan vs. Ailin Perez (135) *
• Bantamweight: Jose Johnson vs. Garrett Armfield

*Hailey Cowan vs. Ailin Perez has been cancelled due to an illness to Cowan.

About the author: Tim Bissell is a writer, editor and deputy site manager for Bloody Elbow. He has covered combat sports since 2015. Tim covers news and events and has also written longform and investigative pieces. (full bio)

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Austin Trout is responding to Diego Sanchez’s greasing claims during their recent BKFC fight.

This past week, we’ve all heard Diego Sanchez’s side of things with regard to his BKFC debut against Austin Trout last week. The UFC veteran of 17 years made greasing claims against Trout, which he believes may have contributed to his bloody fourth-round TKO loss. Sanchez initially threatened legal action against BKFC and is now moving forward with it.

We’re now getting to hear the other side of the fence. In a recent interview with BJPenn.com, Trout stated that BKFC rules have nothing against Vaseline use. And what gets to him, he says, are the cheating accusations that are tainting his name.

“I know Diego is a weird guy and speaks out of his ass a lot of the time. But, a lot of these fans of Diego and MMA guys are crying and calling me a cheater and talking all kinds of shit online. Like, did you watch the fight, and did you read BKFC’s rules? I went and looked into BKFC’s rules on vaseline and there is nothing.

“The commission didn’t say anything when we did it, and it was done right in front of everyone, I didn’t do anything sneakily. In boxing, we normally put on the vaseline, if the commission doesn’t like the amount, you take it off.”

As for BKFC, Trout, a longtime professional boxer and former world light middleweight champion has nothing but good things to say. He even sees a future for himself in bare-knuckle boxing.

“They treat the fighters well. I know there is a big discrepancy between UFC pay and boxing pay and I have gotten that good boxing pay. But, even still with that being said, BKFC is paying really good and they are treating us fighters well.

“Bare-knuckle is going to offer me a good fight that is good for my career but I don’t think boxing can match it. I think it could be a title shot in BKFC next and I can stay busy here and really make some noise.

“I feel like I should get a title shot after that performance and obviously my track record in boxing.”

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Full line-up, start-time and channel guide for UFC Vegas 69.

The UFC’s next event is UFC Vegas 70 on February 25, live from the APEX facility in Las Vegas, NV. The fight card is headlined by Nikita Krylov vs. Ryan Spann in the light heavyweight division.

Full fight card

Main card (8 p.m. ET on ESPN+)

• Light heavyweight: Nikita Krylov vs. Ryan Spann
• Middleweight: Andre Muniz vs. Brendan Allen
• Heavyweight: Augusto Sakai vs. Don’Tale Mayes
• Flyweight: Tatiana Suarez vs. Montana De La Rosa
• Welterweight: Mike Malott vs. Yohan Lainesse
• Lightweight: Erick Gonzalez vs. Trevor Peek

Prelim card (4 p.m. ET on ESPN+)

• Flyweight: Gabriella Fernandes vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius
• Lightweight: Jordan Leavitt vs. Victor Martinez
• Flyweight: Ode Osbourne vs. Charles Johnson
• Lightweight: Joe Solecki vs. Carl Deaton III
• Lightweight: Nurullo Aliev vs. Rafael Alves
• Bantamweight: Hailey Cowan vs. Ailin Perez
• Bantamweight: Jose Johnson vs. Garrett Armfield

What is the next UFC card?

The next UFC card is UFC 285 on Saturday, March 4. Headlining that event is Jon Jones vs. Ciryl Gane for the UFC heavyweight title. The co-main has Valentina Shevchenko defending her UFC flyweight belt versus Alexa Grasso.

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NSAC approves delaying release of documents during filming of The Ultimate Fighter: Team McGregor vs. Team Chandler

During the February 15 meeting of the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) one of the first things the commission did was to approve the “consent agenda” portion of their docket. Among the final items on that agenda was a “Request for Waiver per Nevada Administrative Code (NAC) 467.017.”

The request, made by Zuffa LLC (UFC) was for “Declaratory Ruling and Limited Waiver of Regulations pursuant to NAC 467.008.” The item was not discussed during the meeting, but it was quickly approved.

Bloody Elbow submitted an information request to the commission regarding the vaguely worded action item, and have been provided the more thorough documentation behind it, as created by UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell.

The waiver, dated January 17th, 2023, is related to the filming of the current season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’—which features UFC stars Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler in head coaching roles, with the intent that the two men will face off in the Octagon later this year.

The document is an update of older agreements between the UFC and the NSAC over withholding fight results from public release. As Campbell notes…

Unfortunately, the concept of reality television was not envisioned when the Commission’s rules and regulations were drafted. As a result, a few of the Commission’s regulations could lead to divulging the particular fight match-ups and/or the winners of the matches. Either of these likelihoods would destroy the climactic ending to the television series. Consequently, as it did for the first twenty-eight seasons of the television series, Zuffa is respectfully petitioning this Commission for approval to defe, not prohibit, the release of any documents that would divulge the specific match-ups or the results of the matches taking place as part of the reality series, or any documents that lead to such divulgence. The actual number of documents will be minimal because that are likely to be less than 15 total matches during the series. By comparison, 10-12 matches occur during a typical UFC event. The documents that would be subject to deferred release include the inspectors’ weigh-in sheets, the scorecard tally sheets and the physicians’ reports after the matches.

Zuffa requests to defer release of this limited information for only a short period of time to allow the series to have a suspenseful and compelling finale. It is an important point in this Petition that Zuffa does not seek to prohibit public release of the information, but rather only the timing of such release.

Campbell goes on to state that Zuffa initially filed a similar request on September 15, 2004 and then again on December 10, 2008.

The request states that the public will be “entitled to fully review all documents after the programs are telecast.”

The specific items Zuffa has asked to have withheld include:

“Approval of program dates.” This request was made to ensure a flexible shooting schedule for the show.

“Minimum number of rounds for a complete program.” With no tickets being sold for the fights being filmed during the reality program, there is no need for Zuffa to satisfy a minimum number of rounds per card.

“Number of rounds in contest of exhibition.” This request allows for a “sudden victory round” in order for one fighter to be declared the victor and move on to the next round of competition.

“Procedures for attendance at weigh-ins.” This request asks that only “essential Commission personnel” take part in the weigh-ins before the fights are filmed for the reality program.

The upcoming season of “The Ultimate Fighter” premieres on ESPN and ESPN+ on May 30.

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Boxing analyst and former trainer Teddy Atlas gives his take on UFC 284.

UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev was a sizable favorite leading up to his first title defense at UFC 284 against featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski. On fight day, the Dagestani registered as a -380 favorite over the +320 underdog that is Volkanovski. He was even favored to win via a finish (-115), while Volkanovski’s chances to end outside of the scorecards was a whopping +700.

As we all know, of course, the fight didn’t meet these expectations. Instead, fans were treated to a back-and-forth battle that had Makhachev winning via a questioned unanimous decision.

Now that the dust has settled and the fight turned out the way it did, Makhachev’s performance is being put under the spotlight. Longtime fight analyst and former boxing trainer Teddy Atlas, for one, highlighted Makhachev’s struggles on the scale.

“Makhachev has trouble making weight,” Atlas said in his YouTube show (quotes via MMA News).

“Okay, he’s a big guy. All right, he took all his clothes off. He just made the weight. Like I said, you know he was struggling to get down to that. We see him have to get naked, you know they put the thing around him so you don’t see him.

“But we know that he’s naked on the scale. What we also have to assume and know is that he had to restrict himself and compromise himself with his diet, and with fluid intake. He had to dry out, maybe a little longer than normal.”

For Atlas, those struggles may have been a factor in Makhachev’s performance, particularly toward the end of the fight.

“He had to do all that fighters have to do to cut that weight. That weakens you,” Atlas explained.

“Is it possible – he’s renowned, Makhavev is renowned for his gas tank. He’s renowned for his extraordinary, superhuman endurance, right? He’s renowned for that. He doesn’t burn out, he just keeps going.

“He was getting gassed at the end more than Volkanovski. And so, did that play into it? I think it could’ve.”

Because of the controversial ending, both Volkanovski and Makhachev have agreed to a rematch, possibly in Abu Dhabi.

About the author: Milan Ordoñez has been covering combat sports since 2012 and has been part of the Bloody Elbow staff since 2016. He’s also competed in amateur mixed martial arts and submission grappling tournaments. (full bio)

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