Dana White and Francis Ngannou shake hands ahead of Ngannou’s UFC 270 title fight. | Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Ngannou has been out of the country, visiting family in Cameroon, but White expects to meet with the heavyweight champ again soon.
It’s hard to know just what’s next for the UFC heavyweight title picture, or even the title holder for that matter. Francis Ngannou’s relationship with the UFC has been on rocky ground ever since the Cameroonian fighter picked up the belt, with a second round knockout of Stipe Miocic at UFC 260 last March.
The UFC had hoped to swing the ‘Predator’ into a quick title defense against Derrick Lewis in early August. But, when the newly minted champ balked at the timeline, the UFC tossed together an interim title fight instead. And with the end of Ngannou’s contract on the horizon, the result has been months of stalled negotiations between the Xtreme Couture talent and the UFC.
All that came to a head at UFC 270, when Ngannou defeated Cyril Gane to once again unify the heavyweight belt—and was seemingly snubbed by Dana White for his trouble. White later claimed his absence after the bout was due to a problem, backstage, that required his attention. And while that may not have been the most convincing excuse, it sounds like the UFC president is still fairly confident that the two sides will get a deal done in the coming months.
“He’s been in Cameroon visiting his family, so he’s supposed to get back here in the next couple of weeks and we’re supposed to get together,” White said in a recent interview with ESPN (transcript via MMA Mania). “Listen, in the history of this company, the only guy that we’ve ever not signed was Fedor [Emelianenko]. I mean, it’s the only guy we could never sign. So, you know, I’m hopeful and confident that we can get a deal done with Francis.”
Putting aside the long list of other MMA notables who failed to come to terms with the UFC, Ngannou is set to undergo knee surgery sometime in March—to repair a damage ACL and torn MCL suffered in training for his bout against Gane this past January. Recovery for those injuries is expected to keep the champion sidelined for the rest of 2022. Coincidentally, that will also put him at the end of the 1-year ‘champion’s clause’ contract extension, triggered by winning his latest title defense.
The 35-year-old has stated several times that one of the key components to a potential new UFC deal would be a clause allowing him opportunities to compete in professional boxing bouts alongside his fights in the Octagon. Most specifically, Tyson Fury has issued Ngannou a standing offer for a boxing superfight spectacle, that could net both men millions of dollars in PPV revenue. It’s the kind of agreement that the UFC has only struck once before, with Conor McGregor, but it remains to be seen if that’s the key to getting both sides back to the bargaining table.
Carlos Felipe before his UFC Vegas 40 fight vs. Andrei Arlovski. | Photo by Louis Grasse/PxImages/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Test positive for steroids once, shame on you. Test positive for steroids twice, get bounced from the roster.
Brazilian heavyweight Carlos Felipe is out of the UFC after yet another anti-doping violation.
Felipe tested positive for the steroid Boldenone following his UFC Vegas 40 co-main event loss to former champion Andrei Arlovski last October. The 18-month suspension was announced by the Nevada Athletic Commission back in January, and instead of having Felipe sit on the shelf through 2023, the UFC opted to just cut ties.
“We’ll wait for the suspension to be over so we can compete again, get some wins together and return to the UFC,” Felipe’s manager Leonardo Pateira told MMA Fighting. “Because the UFC has indicated that there’s a chance he’ll be called again after one or two wins. The UFC is our only focus, so we’ll do as they say.”
The 27-year-old signed with the UFC way back in 2017, but he didn’t make his Octagon debut until 2020 after he tested positive for stanozolol in an out-of-competition sample. USADA handed him a two-year ban for that infraction.
Upon his return, Felipe (11-3) dropped his first UFC fight against Sergey Spivak by majority decision. Three straight wins followed against Yorgan De Castro, Justin Tafa, and Jake Collier before the defeat against Arlovski.
It should be noted that Felipe didn’t fail the USADA tests for the Arlovski fight, so at the moment this suspension is only from Nevada and not USADA, who could’ve given him four years for a second violation.
Bellator 230 in Milan. | Photo by Emanuele Cremaschi/Getty Images
Downey was expected to meet Daniel Compton next month, but that will no longer happen after a recent medical scare.
Pat Downey is no longer fighting at Bellator 277 next month.
The former NCAA Division I All-American wrestler has been forced to withdraw from his much anticipated mixed martial arts debut against Daniel Compton after being diagnosed with topical steroid withdrawal, or ‘red skin syndrome’. According to healthline.com, RSS can develop after a person stops using or goes on a lower dose of a topical steroid after long-term usage. Symptoms include raw, sunburn-like skin, blisters and fluid oozing from skin, all of which were visible in the now-deleted photos and videos Downey shared on Instagram.
Warning: Photos below are graphic. Please proceed with caution.
Nolan King of MMA JunkiePat Downey shares Instagram post about skin condition.
“Between this progressively escalating undiagnosed flesh-eating disease [and] recently tearing my my MCL / ankle I’m not sure I’ll be able to make my professional MMA debut April 15th,” wrote Downey. “I have not officially pulled out because 10% of me still remains optimistic [and] believes the other 90% knows competing under these conditions is not allowed nor logical considering these injuries have severely impacted my ability to properly prepare.”
Promotional officials have already confirmed that Downey is out of his fight. It is unknown whether his opponent will receive a short-notice replacement and remain on the card.
Downey has since visited with an allergist, who diagnosed him with RSS. He still needs to consult with a dermatologist and get an MRI done, but the 29-year-old feels better now that he knows what the cause of his distress is.
Nolan King of MMA JunkiePat Downey provides update on skin condition.
“I have stopped using all meds [and] we believe every cream especially cortisone or any other topical/injected oral based steroid is causing this crazy allergic reaction.”
Following a successful career in wrestling, Downey shifted his focus to MMA and began competing in submission grappling events. The ‘Lizard King’ has taken on notable names such as Gordon Ryan, Pedro Marinho and Jake Shields on the mats.
Episode 157 discussion: UFC 272 recap, Khabib Nurmagomedov’s induction to UFC HOF, Tyson Fury says he’s retiring after Dillian Whyte fight, other top combat sports moments
Welcome to ‘The Mookie & Crookie Show’, a spinoff of ‘The Level Change Podcast’ that goes a little more in-depth on major combat sports news, as well as takes a humorous look at the crazy world of combat sports social media. The show is hosted by Mookie Alexander and Stephie Haynes and airs every Tuesday. Here is a summary of the topics discussed or questions asked, complete with the timestamps for when each interview or special segment begins. As always, we hope you enjoy listening to the show as much as we enjoyed recording it.
June M. Williams
EPISODE 157
What’s next for Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal? – 3:33
Khabib Nurmagomedov is headed for the UFC Hall of Fame – 28:35
Shocking first fight of EFC92. Wishing Willem Smith all the best on his road to recovery from this very unfortunate incident!#EFC92pic.twitter.com/cfdoaQawot
You can check out the entire show on SoundCloud here. You can check out the entire show on YouTube here. Remember, if you’re looking for us on SoundCloud or iTunes, we’re under the Bloody Elbow Presents name. Follow our Twitter accounts: Stephie Haynes, Mookie Alexander, and our show account Mookie & Crookie Show.
If you enjoy our shows, give us a shout out in the comments here on Bloody Elbow, or give us a “like”, share & subscribe over on whichever BE Presents Podcast Channel happens to be your listening platform of choice: SoundCloud, YouTube, iTunes & Apple TV, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Spotify, TuneIn, OverCast, or Player FM, & Amazon Music– While you’re there, don’t forget to subscribe to Bloody Elbow Presents, that way you’ll always be the first to get all of BE’s daily MMA offerings. For previous episodes of the show, check out our playlists on all of our BE Presents channels.
Colby Covington takes down Jorge Masvidal during their UFC 272 headliner fight. | Photo by David Becker/Getty Images
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith critiques Jorge Masvidal’s UFC 272 performance.
Veteran ESPN anchor Stephen A. Smith is known for his strong and oftentimes debated opinions on his very own show “First Take.” In a recent episode, he discussed UFC 272, particularly the grudge match headliner between Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal.
Smith, who claimed to be a “huge, huge Masvidal fan,” first touched on what he saw as the major difference between the two fighters in terms of conditioning.
“I saw Masvidal gutsy and survived the five rounds,” Smith said. “But while he was waving Covington on to come on, ‘Let’s get some more, let’s get some more,’ he was literally using two security personnel to lean on. Because that’s how exhausted he was. Covington looked like he was just starting. He was that energized.”
During the post-fight interviews, Masvidal did admit that his wrestling was “flat” that night and that he needed to do more work on it. But for Smith, that reasoning didn’t make sense.
“How was it flat coming into this fight, knowing this guy as well as you know him, and knowing what he was going to try to do to you and how much you supposedly hate him? How you were not ready for a wrestling match, I don’t understand. It’s inexplicable.”
The 37-year-old Masvidal lost to Covington via decision, which marked his third consecutive defeat. He drops to a record of 35-16.
Conor McGregor in attendance at Bellator 275. | Photo By David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile via Getty Images
Former UFC champ Michael Bisping may believe that McGregor’s best days are “long gone,” but he also thinks the Irishman is an especially bad matchup for the lightweight title holder.
With the recent debacle surrounding the UFC’s attempt to book a last minute fight between Islam Makhachev and Rafael Dos Anjos, and the resulting news that Makhachev would be re-booked to fight Beneil Dariush after ultimately turning RDA down, it seems more and more likely that the UFC will end up slotting Conor McGregor into the lightweight title picture sometime in 2022.
Dana White has already teased the idea, suggesting that booking a bout between the sitting champion and the Irish superstar would be down to whoever currently wears the crown – and what fight they want – once McGregor’s leg is healthy. What fighter with PPV points to consider would turn down a seemingly guaranteed million+ buy event?
Would the booking make sporting sense? Or even be all that competitive? Maybe not. But there is one man that former middleweight king Michael Bisping believes would be an especially favorable style clash for the longtime SBG Ireland talent. And it just so happens that that man is none other than the lightweight belt-holder himself, Charles Oliveira.
“It’s wild but if you ran the company would you want that to happen?” Bisping asked Joe Rogan on a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience,speaking of the idea of a McGregor title shot in 2022 (transcript via MMA Fighting). “You probably would, let’s be honest. The reality is, Conor’s best days are long gone, probably. You can’t stay at the top forever.”
“I’ll tell you this, if there’s a person that you’d put him against in the top-5 to beat, it would be Charles Oliveira,” Bisping added. “Charles is hittable and Conor can still f***ing hit. He’s fast and Charles is hittable…. I’m just saying, there’s a potential that Conor comes back, beats Charles Oliveira and becomes champion again. That is—I don’t think I can deal with the world if that happens. Oh my god. But it might happen. He’s still got that left hand, he’s still got power and speed.”
McGregor (22-6) last tasted victory back in January of 2020, when he picked up a 0:40 TKO of Donald Cerrone in the main event of UFC 246. That bout marked his first since losing a lightweight title fight to Khabib Nurmagomedov back in 2018. In the two years since his Cerrone win, McGregor had a pair of bouts with former featherweight foe Dustin Poirier—losing both via TKO.
Oliveira defeated Poirier – fresh off that second McGregor victory – via 3rd round RNC at UFC 269 in December of last year. He’s currently set to take on former interim champ Justin Gaethje at UFC 274. If ‘Do Bronx’ can walk away from that fight with his hand raised, it just may be that Bisping will get a chance to see his theory in action.
Take a look at this weekend’s UFC Vegas 50 current fight card.
Hot on the heels of an entertaining UFC 272 PPV, the UFC will return to their Apex facility for a run of Fight Night events. The first one will be UFC Vegas 50, and the card has a very good main card.
In the headliner, Magomed Ankalaev will look to extend his UFC win streak to eight when he faces his toughest challenge to date, former light heavyweight title challenger Thiago Santos. The co-main will take place at bantamweight, with veteran Marlon Moraes looking to get back in the win column for the first time in a while when he meets Song Yadong.
The card also features the return of superstar striker Alex Pereira, who will be trying to secure a second straight UFC win when he takes on another man that is undefeated in the UFC thus far, Bruno Silva.
Here’s a look at the full current card for the March 12th event, which will air on ESPN+.
Sorry cry babies! It’s time for another of our infamous and patented Care/Don’t Care Podcasts, with your talent: Eugene S. Robinson & Stephie Haynes. The format of the show is to review the prior weeks picks & then to announce each fight on the upcoming card, commenting on which upcoming fights are hot and which fights are not – for UFC Vegas 50: Thiago Santos vs Magomed Ankalaev.
It’s time for another one of our infamous and patented Care/Don’t Care Podcasts, with your talent: the astounding Eugene S. Robinson, author of the ‘Eugene S. Robinson Substack’, the fight book: “Fight: Everything You Wanted to Know About Ass-Kicking but Were Afraid You’d Get Your Ass Kicked for Asking”, host of the ‘Eugene S. Robinson Show Stomper!’ Podcast, and co-host of the ‘If The Shoes Fit’ Podcast, along with the indubitable John S. Nash, our chief financials columnist and co-host of our ‘Show Money’ Podcast… he is also one of the co-hosts of the ‘If The Shoes Fit’ Podcast; the trio is moderated by the lovely Stephie Haynes, of Bloody Elbow’s ‘The Level Change Podcast’, ’The Mookie & Crookie Show Podcast’& the ‘Crooklyn’s Corner Podcast’.
June M. WilliamsYour Care/Don’t Care Hosts
The format of the show is to review the prior weeks’ picks & then to announce each fight on the upcoming card, quickly commenting on which fights are hot, and which fights are not, based on relevancy to the sport as a whole. This format of “Caring” or “Not Caring” about each bout is geared to our listeners who consider themselves to be “Casual MMA Fans”. This effort is in the hopes that we can steer you towards fights that affect rankings, title contention, have significant meaning, or are sure to be “must see tv” fights; therefore saving you the tedium of watching every fight on every card – or perhaps missing out on something you might have otherwise skipped.
UFC 272 REACTIONS — 2:30
Overall, this now 13-bout card saw two exciting first round finishes, three thrilling KO/TKO’s, two sweet submissions, and eight hard-fought decisions, three of them split. Rounding things out, two fighters were awarded for putting forth POTN efforts: Kevin Holland and Maryna Moroz;FOTN honors went to Colby Covington vs. Jorge Masvidal. Attendance Stats: 19,425 (complete sell out, 11th consecutive PPV sell out). Gate: $ 6.76 million (#7 all-time at T-Mobile and #14 all-time for UFC).
Here’s a look at the UFC 272: ‘JORGE MASVIDAL VS COLBY COVINGTON’ fight card full results & updated records —
At 18:28 — 10. 170lbs: Kevin Holland (22-7) DEF. Alex Oliveira (22-12) — KO/TKO, Right Hook to Ground Strikes at 0:38 of Rd 2, 5:38 Total
At 15:12 — 9. 265lbs: Sergey Spivak (14-3) DEF. Greg Hardy (7-5) — KO/TKO, G&P at 2:16 of Rd 1
ESPN+PRELIMS At 13:57 — 8. 155lbs: Jalin Turner (11-5) DEF. Jamie Mullarkey (14-4) — KO/TKO, Right Hook to Ground Strikes at 0:46 of Rd 2, 5:46 Total
At 13:07 — 7. 205lbs: Marina Rodriguez (16-1) DEF. Xiaonan Yan (13-2) — DEC, Split (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
At 12:07 — 6. 205lbs: Nick Negumereanu (12-1) DEF. Kennedy Nzechukwu (9-3) —DEC, Split (27-29, 29-27, 29-27)
At 10:50 — 5. 125lbs: Maryna Moroz (11-3) DEF. Mariya Agapova (10-3) — SUB, Arm Triangle Choke at 3:27 of Rd 2, Total 8:27
UFC FIGHT PASSEARLY PRELIMS At 7:35 — 4. 135lbs: Umar Nurmagomedov (14-0) vs. BrIan Kelleher (24-13) — SUB, Rear Naked Choke at 3:15 of Rd 1
At 6:25 — 3. 125lbs: Tim Elliott (18-12) DEF. Tagir Ulanbekov (13-2) — DEC, Unanimous (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
At 5:40 — 2. 155lbs: L’udovit Klein (18-4) DEF. Devonte Smith (11-4) — DEC, Split (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)
At 5:24— 1. 205lbs: Dustin Jacoby (17-5) DEF. Michael Oleksiejczuk (16-5) — DEC, Unanimous (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
UFC VEGAS 50 PICKS — 38:36
At this point in the show we offer you our ‘disclaimer’, then our trio will go about predicting the UFC Vegas 50Fight Night bout sheet from the bottom up, wrapping up the C/DC quick-picks portion of the show with the Main Event. This UFC on ESPN+ Fight Night event will take place from the APEX Center, in Las Vegas, NV, this Saturday, March 12th.
Here’s a look at the fight card & records for the upcoming event via tapology.com(bout order subject to change, as it already has since the show was recorded Sun. morning):
ESPN+ MAIN CARD | SAT. MAR 12 — 7PM/4PM ETPT (14 Cares) 14. 205lbs: Thiago Santos (22-9) vs. Magomed Ankalaev (16-1) — At 54:47, 2 Cares
13. 135lbs: Marlon Moraes (23-9) vs. Yadong Song (18-5) — At 53:44, 3 Cares
12. 145lbs: Alex Caceres (19-12) vs. Sodiq Yusuff (11-2)— At 50:21, 3 Cares (But Split)
11. 205bs: Khalil Rountree (9-5) vs. Karl Roberson (9-4)— At 49:10
10. 155lbs: Drew Dober (23-11) vs. Terrence McKinney (12-3) — At 48:23, 3 Cares (But Split)
9. 185lbs: Bruno Silva (22-6) vs. Alex Pereira (4-1) — At 52:19, 3 Cares (But Split)
ESPN+PRELIMS | 4PM/1PM ETPT (0 Cares) 8. 170lbs: Matt Semelsberger (9-3) vs. AJ Fletcher (9-0) — At 41:24, “One to Watch”
7. 125lbs: JJ Aldrich (10-4) vs. Gillian Robertson (10-6) — At 40:27
6. 135lbs: Trevin Jones (13-7) vs. Javid Basharat (11-0) — At 46:10
5. 145lbs: Damon Jackson (19-4) vs. Kamuela Kirk (11-4) — At 42:50
UFC FIGHT PASSEARLY PRELIMS (0 Cares) 4. 125lbs: Sabina Mazo (9-3) vs. Miranda Maverick (9-4) — At 39:59
3. 185lbs: Cody Brundage (6-2) vs. Dalcha Lungiambula (11-3) — At 45:44
2. 135lbs: Guido Cannetti (8-6) vs. Kris Moutinho (9-5) — At 47:37
1. 205lbs: Tafon Nchukwi (6-1) vs. Azamat Murzakanov (10-0) — At 44:51
Be sure to follow Eugene on twitter @EugeneSRobinson, John is @Heynottheface, and of course you can catch Stephie @CrooklynMMA, and twice a week she’s on @MookieNCrookie AND @LevelChangePod.
If you would like to catch the show with our all new enhanced graphics accompanying their commentary on our BE Presents YouTube Channel, join the gang right here:
If you enjoy our shows, give us a shout out in the comments here on Bloody Elbow, or give us a “like”, share & subscribe over on whichever BE Presents Podcast Channel happens to be your listening platform of choice: SoundCloud, YouTube, iTunes & Apple TV, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Spotify, TuneIn, OverCast, Player FM, & Amazon Music– For previous episodes of the show, check out our playlists on all of our BE Presents channels.
Rafael dos Anjos and Renato Moicano exchanging during their fight at UFC 272. | Photo by David Becker/Getty Images
Dos Anjos delivered a ton of damage to Moicano, but the fight was not stopped.
Rafael dos Anjos wanted the doctor to stop his fight against Renato Moicano at UFC 272 on Saturday night.
Dos Anjos met Moicano on days’ notice after his original opponent — Rafael Fiziev — was forced to withdraw after testing positive for COVID-19 upon his arrival to the States. The former UFC lightweight champion then accepted a short-notice 160-pound catchweight with Moicano, who just earned a submission win over Alexander Hernandez at UFC 271 less than a month ago.
Though Moicano started very aggressive, Dos Anjos did the most harm throughout the fight. RDA was always one step ahead of his opponent and found success in the striking and grappling exchanges, completely battering Moicano. By the end of the third round, Dos Anjos appeared to be on his way to a stoppage victory after a head kick followed by some brutal ground-and-pound left Moicano a bloody mess on the canvas. He survived and returned to his corner, looking worse for wear with cuts and swelling around his eye.
At the start of the fourth and fifth rounds, referee Marc Goddard requested the cageside physician to examine the eye of Moicano. He was cleared and allowed to continue fighting, but Dos Anjos kept the pressure on and drowned the American Top Team (ATT) product on the ground. Moicano nearly turned the tide after going for broke in the final five minutes of the fight, but it was not enough to best Dos Anjos.
During his post-fight press conference with assembled media in Las Vegas, Dos Anjos was asked about inflicting so much damage to a clearly impaired Moicano. Like an overwhelming majority of fans and pundits, the Brazilian believed the doctor should have stopped the fight sooner.
“I really wanted the doctor to stop it but they didn’t,” said Dos Anjos (video provided by MMA Fighting). “But I got to do what I got to do, unfortunately. I was trying to finish the fight, but the guy is tough as nails.”
Moicano was immediately transported to a local hospital for further evaluation, but the 32-year-old has already provided an update on social media. He thanked the UFC and Dos Anjos for the fight and seemed to be in good spirits, all things considered.
As for Dos Anjos, he expressed interest in returning against who he would deem ‘a good name’ for his next appearance. That may no longer include Islam Makhachev, who he has tried to fight on three occasions, all of which have failed for various reasons. He has another failed booking in mind, though.
“It looks like he’s only going to fight Beneil Dariush,” said Dos Anjos. “He had a chance to fight me tonight [and] he didn’t. At 170 pounds, I took the fight. They didn’t, and I don’t know. It looks like Conor [McGregor] is coming back in the summer. That could be a good one. [A] title fight is already scheduled. We’ll see, man. A lot of things can happen. I just want to be active. I want to be training. I need good names. Man, I’ve been in this game for so many years. Fought everybody in two divisions. I need names that make me want to go to the gym and train hard for it, you know? That’s what I want.”
Since returning to the lightweight division, Dos Anjos now boasts a two-fight win streak.
Nolan King of MMA Junkie
Nolan King of MMA Junkie
June M. Williams 
June M. Williams
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