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

That was definitely a card that happened. The UFC put on a midnight showing of mid-card talent and it produced an absolute minimum of meaningful momentum for the fighters involved. Most notably, Serghei Spivac announced himself as a real force in the heavyweight division, demolishing Derrick Lewis in the first round. Otherwise, a few contracts go handed out for the promotion’s first ever ‘Road to UFC’ finalists.

So, is Spivac ready to swim with the heavyweight title contenders? Can Marcin Tybura get a little bit of respect? And is the UFC going to keep slow-playing Tatsuro Taira?

To answer those questions—and nothing else—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!

SERGHEI SPIVAC

It’s too bad that the fight ended at 3:30 AM in the morning (east coast time), because this was very much Serghei Spivac’s coming out party. The giant Moldovan has sort of snuck his way to success in the heavyweight division. Having started out his UFC career on the wrong foot, he’s won six of his last seven fights now—and three straight since a disappointing 2021 defeat at the hands of Tom Aspinall. While Lewis has had his share of setbacks, Daniel Cormier is the only other man to punish him so thoroughly for giving up easy takedowns.

After the bout (and with a fair bit of pressure from Michael Bisping), Spivac called for a fight with Jon Jones. It’s absolutely not a fight he’s going to get, but can’t blame the guy for wanting it. Fortunately there are a few strong options out there for him, fights with Sergei Pavlovich, the Volkov/Romanov winner, or Curtis Blaydes would all serve well. Just because Pavlovich vs. Blaydes feels like a much more natural booking to make, I’ll say Spivac should get the Volkov/Romanov winner. Sure it’s not the biggest fight possible, but another dominant showing there and he’ll be firmly in the contender’s circle.

DERRICK LEWIS

Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC

My pre-fight feeling, heading into Saturday night, was that if Derrick Lewis couldn’t win this bout, then his days as a top tier heavyweight are likely truly over. It’s hard not to feel like that’s still true coming out of it. He may hang around the top 10 or the top 15 for a while, but getting absolutely beasted by Spivac feels like such a statement. If Lewis can get KO’d by other big punchers, and is starting to get handled by the low-powered grinders, that puts him at a disadvantage in far too many high level fights.

Still, the UFC is bullish on keeping Lewis as a feature attraction then I’m sure he’ll keep getting name opponents for as long as he wants to keep fighting. In fact, that gives me an idea. There’s one other man just hanging around the heavyweight division looking for entertaining ‘name’ opponents: Andrei Arlovski. They’ve been fighting in the same place for nearly a decade now, and the ‘Pitbull’ won’t stick around forever. Lewis vs. Arlovski seems like a fight that just needs to happen once, before both men are done.

DEVIN CLARK

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

If Jung Da-un didn’t show up for UFC Vegas 68, there was no danger of Devin Clark not being there to deal out some damage. From the moment Jung tried that terribly advised sacrifice throw in the first round, he seemed checked out of the bout. Not ready to trade shots from range, he was entirely dependent on trying to win clinch battles with the shorter man. The end result was a clean sweep for Clark, who gets a badly needed bounce-back from a hard loss to Azamat Murzakanov.

Bouts against Khalil Rountree, Carlos Ulberg, or the Pedro/Bukauskas winner would all be strong options. I’ll say go with Ulberg. Clark’s physicality and gas tank makes him a great test at the edges of the light heavyweight top 15, and Ulberg’s rangy power should be the kind of problem Jung was supposed to represent. Ulberg vs. Clark is a great way to see if the New Zealander is ready to start jumping up the division.

MARCIN TYBURA

Photo by Louis Grasse/PxImages/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

It really feels like Marcin Tybura deserves SOMETHING from the UFC in terms of a high profile fight. The 37-year-old has won seven of his last eight bouts. Even if they’re not spectacular, dominant wins, he’s put together a run. This bout against Ivanov felt like a decided step back after beating Alexandr Romanov last August. Following this win, he called out Jairzinho Rozenstruik. It’s not exactly a title eliminator, but with Rozenstruik coming off a good win over Chris Daukaus and without another bout already booked, it seems like a smart call. The other options would be Tai Tuivasa or Jailton Almeida, and neither of those feel like an especially great fit instead. Tybura vs. Rozenstruik is a perfectly good fight if both men are down for it.

PARK JUN-YONG

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

This was exactly the kind of performance Park Jun-yong needed to have. He’s got all the technical tools to be a force at middleweight, it’s just the physical side that’s lacking. A fighter like Tiuliulin was only going to be as much of a challenge as Park’s game-planning made it. To that end, the ‘Iron Turtle’ exchanged a few punches, fought hard to get a takedown, and then was totally dominant from top position. The result was a quick first round submission for the Korean, bringing his UFC record to 6-2 overall. That should put him in the sights of fighters like Brendan Allen or Caio Borralho or Phil Hawes. I like the Allen fight a lot, but unfortunately ‘All In’ is set to take on Andre Muniz instead. So, I’ll say book Park vs. Borralho. It’s a tough matchup for the 31-year-old, but also a chance to put a rising top prospect on ice.

TATSURO TAIRA

Photo by Louis Grasse/PxImages/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

A crushing first round win for Tatsuro Taira. Honestly, it happens so rarely that it feels kinda surprising to see the UFC bring the top Japanese prospect along slowly like this. It’s not that Taira’s been taking steps back, but his first three UFC bouts have all felt like sideways moves for a kid who came up from the regional circuit with a resume built on strong veteran talent. If the UFC wants to continue down that path, then a fight with Bruno Santos or Tyson Nam would be great options. If the UFC really wants to give Taira a step up, then Tim Elliott or Tagir Ulanbekov would be really fun. Elliott has positioned himself as something of a gatekeeper to the top 15 over the years. Seems like a prime chance for him to try and stop another prospect’s run. Elliott vs. Taira would be a fun scramble-filled flyweight battle.

OTHER BOUTS: Jung Da-un vs. Ihor Potieria, Blagoy Ivanov vs. Maxim Grishin, Dooho Choi vs. Gavin Tucker, Kyle Nelson vs. Danny Henry, Adam Fugitt vs. Ange Loosa, Yusaku Kinoshita vs. Fletcher/Gorimbo loser, Anshul Jubli vs. Mike Breeden, Lee Jeong-yong vs. Daniel Argueta, Rinya Nakamura vs. Chad Anheliger, Park Hyun-sung vs. Rafael Ramos Estevam, Denis Tiuliulin vs. Joseph Holmes, Jesus Aguilar vs. Ross/Rodrigues loser

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Khamzat Chimaev and several other UFC fighters has been training with 15-year-old Ali Kadyrov at the renowned Tiger Muay Thai training facility in Thailand. 

A handful of UFC fighters are currently training alongside Ramzan Kadyrov’s 15-year-old son and entourage in Thailand, further emphasizing the dictator’s growing influence on the sport.

In January 2022, Khamzat Chimaev arrived at the renowned Tiger Muay Thai training facility in Phuket, Thailand with a horde of fighters from Kadyrov’s infamous fight club, Akhmat MMA—an entity facing sanctions by the U.S. Department of the Treasury for bringing “pride and prestige” to Kadyrov.

The UFC star was also accompanied by Kadyrov’s son, Ali, who has become a constant presence in Chimaev’s life over the past year. The duo posted regular photographs of their training on social media, which included sparring sessions.

Other fighters spotted training Ali included former UFC champion Petr Yan, UFC flyweight contender Muhammad Mokaev, Darren Till, and Professional Fighter League (PFL) tournament winner Brendan Loughnane.

This is not the first time that Ali has trained alongside UFC fighters. In December 2022, he traveled with Chimaev to Dubai, where he trained with members Chimaev’s Allstar team, including UFC lightweight Guram Kutateladze. He also trained with former UFC champion Cody Garbrandt.

It is worth noting that the U.S. Department of State informed The New York Times last year that it is aware of apparent ties between Kadyrov and UFC fighters, though it remains to be seen whether those fighters will face any consequences for their actions.

Kadyrov, who has ruled Chechnya with an iron fist since 2007, has long been accused of widespread human rights abuses that include purges of sexual minorities, extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, and appalling acts of violence to quell all forms of dissent.

Despite his harrowing human rights record, Kadyrov remains a prominent figure within combat sports, whether through his expanding MMA organization or his continued affiliation with star fighters such as Chimaev and world champion Artur Beterbiev. And while Kadyrov may not be making as many personal appearances at UFC events anymore, he continues to view the sport as a an important platform for his unique propaganda.

In December 2022, Ali competed in his first professional fight at Absolute Championship Akhmat (ACA), a leading Russian MMA organization owned by the teenager’s tyrannical father. With Chimaev in his corner, the teenager went on to defeat his opponent by TKO in what was clearly a fixed fight.

Ali has since revealed that he plans to fight again in the near future.

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The real winners and losers of UFC Vegas 68.

There’s a good chance this was the least watched UFC Fight Night in quite some time. The first few contests were competing with Fedor Emelianenko’s retirement fight – which I have to admit I switched to myself without missing any of the UFC action – and it had a horrible time slot. How bad? The main card started at 1:00 AM on the east coast. Perhaps it was a good thing for many as perennial fan favorite Derrick Lewis suffered perhaps the most humiliating loss of his career. Win or lose, Lewis has typically been competitive except with the most elite of the division. While Serghei Spivac is a good fighter – and still improving – I don’t think anyone is about to label him elite.

As to the reason for the late start, several promising talents out of Asia were crowned winners from the Road to the UFC tournament. The quality of the contests was a mixed bag, but it would ultimately be a shocker if the tournament winners proved to be the only talent from the tournament who end up on the UFC roster.

Read on for the complete list of winners and losers.

Winners

Serghei Spivac: While I do believe Lewis’ decline had something to do with Spivac’s dominance, Spivac deserves credit too for implementing the perfect game plan. Being aware of the heavy hands of Lewis, Spivac never gave the Black Beast an opportunity to land something big on him. Instead, Spivac took down Lewis at will, dragging Lewis down as soon as he got back to his feet on several occasions. One could visibly see the energy leaving Lewis’ body more and more as he labored to get back up. Once Spivac realized how depleted Lewis was, he wasted no time looking for the finish. Spivac isn’t the athlete that those who populate the top of the division are, but he’s proven he’ll give them fits at the very least as he’s proven to have one of the highest fight IQ’s in the division.

Devin Clark: It was a big possibility Clark was going to end up on the chopping block if he dropped his contest with Da Un Jung. It would have been the fourth loss in his last five contests. Clark fought like a man with his back against the wall, fighting with energy and fire. Most importantly, he didn’t allow the much larger Jung to fight at range. Instead, Clark made his reach disadvantage a moot point, fighting in the clinch and scoring several takedowns. It was rarely pretty, but it was what Clark needed to get done and maintain his roster spot.

Adam Fugitt: Fugitt may not remember being kicked in the head, but he ate that kick from Yusaku Kunishita for breakfast. It wasn’t much longer after that he turned the tables, dominating the youthful native of Japan on the mat. Fugitt began landing heavy punches, the activity level in Kinoshita slowly dwindling before the referee jumped in. At 34, Fugitt may have racked up the only UFC win of his career. Regardless, it was a hell of a moment for journeyman, one that most observers were happy to see happen for him.

Anshul Jubli: Perhaps the most ready-made product from the Road to the UFC, Jubli fought with a maturity that you wouldn’t expect from someone from India. Only the second fighter to step foot in the Octagon from the second most populous country in the world, Jubli had a plan and executed it to perfection. I do worry about Jubli’s ceiling as he doesn’t have an abundance of physical skills, but he’s big for 155 and knows his strengths. That might allow him to stick around longer than anyone would think.

Jeong Yeong Lee: Lee’s a winner because he earned a contract. He didn’t have the best performance, earning his contract by the skin of his teeth in a split decision over Yi Zha. What put Lee over the top is he did more damage with his strikes as opposed to Yi’s emphasis on wrestling and control. It wasn’t the type of performance that is going to inspire Uncle Dana to give him a push. He did mention he had a bad wheel in his post-fight interview, so perhaps Lee will prove himself to be a keeper once that heals up.

Rinya Nakamura: Nakamura’s position here comes with a bit of a caveat given he fought stupidly. Fortunately for him, his superior physical skills allowed him to find a brutal KO over Toshiomi Kazama. A more disciplined approach may have allowed Nakamura to secure a cleaner win, but he probably wouldn’t have picked up an extra $ 50K either. Regardless, Nakamura picked up the contract and appears to have the highest ceiling of all the newcomers on this card. Keep in mind his base is his wrestling and he didn’t bother to pull that out.

Hyun Sung Park: It took him a bit longer than usual to get going, but Park eventually found the finish in the third round. The first one to earn a UFC contract on the evening, Park showed a real killer instinct, aggressively pursuing a finish after being put on his ass in the second round by Seung Guk Choi. I do worry about Park’s ceiling given he’s been fighting professionally since 2014, but there does appear to be some fights he can win in the UFC even if he doesn’t make any large strides. At the very least, he appears to be a fun addition.

Jun Yong Park: Park isn’t elite in any one area, but he knows what he can do. More importantly, he knows where his opponent is weak. As soon as he got Denis Tiuliulin down, he began slicing the Russian up with his elbows, Tiuliulin exposing his back to escape further punishment. Park quickly sunk in an RNC, putting Tiuliulin to sleep within a matter of seconds. Park’s upside is limited, but he looks like someone who could flirt with the official rankings. With three consecutive victories – and six wins in his last seven appearances – he should get an opportunity to prove that.

Tatsuro Taira: Some may say that Taira was in trouble for the first couple of minutes of his contest with Jesus Aguilar, but Aguilar never had the correct angle on the guillotine. Thus, Taira showed a lot of maturity in biding his time to escape before being able to go on the offensive. Once Taira got his grappling game going, he put on a clinic on Aguilar, eventually finding the armbar. Taira is still just 23, but he’s shown maturity beyond his years in trucking over his first three UFC opponents. At this pace, it’ll only be a matter of time before he’s fighting for the flyweight title.

Losers

Derrick Lewis: Based on his personality, Lewis is probably going to be a Fight Night headliner as long as he wants to be. Based on merit, Lewis is done as a main eventer. Lewis did look slimmer, showing a greater emphasis on conditioning. Unfortunately, it ultimately didn’t matter as Spivac proved to have the perfect strategy to avoid Lewis’ power and wear down the big man. Was Spivac able to do that because he really is that good? Or is it because Lewis is washed? As it usually is, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. Regardless, Lewis’ days of being a contender are clearly a thing of the past. His chin can’t handle the other heavy hitters of the division and he didn’t show the explosive get ups he’s displayed in the past. Look for him to hover around the ten spot in the rankings for a few years before he either retires or fades out of the rankings all together.

Da Un Jung: Jung’s loss to Clark wasn’t the worst loss in the world. Jung had some nice moments and is young enough that this loss should be a nice learning moment. Unfortunately, given how heavy a favorite Jung was, it’s hard to say he wasn’t a loser in the grand scheme of things. While I didn’t think Jung should have been favored as heavily as he was, the odds were what they were because better things were expected of him. I expect Jung will come back stronger, but he’s flirting with disaster now that he’s on a two fight losing streak.

Marcin Tybura and Blagoy Ivanov: It wasn’t a surprise to anyone that these two heavyweights put on the most miserable fight of the evening. Tybura scored the only clear round between these two, which consisted of him using wrestling and control to take the third round. Otherwise, it was a punch of glancing punches that were thrown sloppily over the course of the first ten minutes of the fight. What both men needed more than anything was an entertaining contest. That didn’t happen, meaning both men are left with their wheels spinning.

Doo Ho Choi: Choi had victory in his hands when he threw a meaningless head butt on Kyle Nelson just past the midway point of the third round. All he had to do was ride things out, which shouldn’t have been too difficult given Nelson had no energy to do anything other than drive him against the fence. Instead, Choi decided he didn’t want to pick up his first win since 2016, having a point deducted for the head butt. It may not have resulted in a loss, but scoring a draw based on a stupid point deduction might as well be a loss. Nelson was about as favorable of a matchup as Choi could have received. Given that, I’m ready to give up on Choi at this point.

Yusaku Kinoshita: I was worried about the ground game of Kinoshita. Those worries proved to be well-founded. Kinoshita was a fish out of water once Fugitt got him to the mat. Only 23, Kinoshita has plenty of time to grow and the talent to be something special. Unfortunately, his ground game appears to be a way away from where he needs to be and the UFC isn’t the place he should be learning these things. If Kinoshita can keep his fights standing, he’s got a good chance of winning. Unfortunately for him, he’s going to have a target on him to go to the mat.

Yi Zha: Uncle Dana has never been a fan of fighters primarily utilizing control in pursuit of victory. That was about the only thing Yi had going for him. He never came close to threatening with a finish. Given he was the one who exercised more control and never made a real attempt at a submission, that’s not a good indication he’ll get further consideration to be brought back around.

Denis Tiuliulin: If given the opportunity to stand and trade, Tiuliulin is a lot of fun to watch. He didn’t get that chance against Park, the Korean wasting little time in his attempts to get Tiuliulin to the mat. While Tiuliulin appears to have improved his takedown defense, there doesn’t appear to be any improvement from his back. Park left Tiuliulin a bloody mess. While Tiuliulin didn’t officially give up, he pretty much threw up the white flag when he gave up his back. Regardless, Tiuliulin left the cage a broken, bloody mess.

Neither

Kyle Nelson: Barring a win, it seemed highly unlikely Nelson was going to be on the UFC roster at the end of the event. Well, I get the feeling I was wrong. It wasn’t a winning performance, nor did it deserve to be. To be fair to Nelson, he did have the most complete performance of his UFC career, hurting Choi a couple of times and not completely gassing down the stretch. Still, I don’t expect he’ll be given a pink slip, which is a good thing for him.

Toshiomi Kazama: Sure, Kazama woke up looking at the lights. But he also fought the best fight he could in hopes of securing the win over the heavily favored Nakamura. He snapped Nakamura’s head back with a couple of his strikes, turning in the most exciting contest of the evening in the process. If he’s willing to fight like that every time out, I’d expect Uncle Dana to be more than happy to send him a contract at some point.

Seung Guk Choi: Choi didn’t earn the flyweight contract, but he had the most valiant effort of all those who came up short of winning a contract. Choi was the more measured fighter than Park, jumping out to an early lead and scoring a knockdown in the second. Park stormed back to secure the win and the contract, but Choi looks like he could be someone the UFC has interest in signing anyway. Training with the Korean Zombie is probably another feather in his cap. I’d be shocked if this is the last we see of Choi in the UFC.

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The UFC’s four 8-man Asian tournaments have concluded.

UFC quietly completed four highly entertaining 8-man tournaments late Saturday night, as part of the Lewis vs Spivac undercard. These “Road to UFC” Asian tourneys were originally supposed to be completed in South Korea to much more local fanfare, until Chan Sung Jung bowed out to injury and UFC had to move the entire card to Las Vegas.

The biggest standout among the four tournament winners was Rinya Nakamura, who improved to 7-0 and won the bantamweight tournament final in just 33 seconds. Although known as an accomplished wrestler, he just ran through Toshiomi Kazama with strikes and again showcased his explosiveness and top level athleticism. Nakamura completed his impressive tournament run by finishing all three opponents.

Countries such as South Korea, Japan, China, Indonesia and India were all represented in the finals of the four divisions, but only four men from three countries secured official UFC contracts with their tournament wins. Road to UFC also notably produced the UFC’s first fighter born in India, with Anshul Jubli winning the lightweight tournament.

Also officially earning their UFC contracts were featherweight winner “The Korean Tiger” Jeong Yeong Lee, who won a close decision while stating that he had a torn ACL, and flyweight winner Hyun Sung Park, who picked up a quality submission win.

Full Road to UFC results and highlights:

Flyweight Finals: Hyun Sung Park (South Korea) def. Seung Guk Choi (South Korea) by Submission (Rear naked choke), R3

Bantamweight Finals: Rinya Nakamura (Japan) def. Toshiomi Kazama (Japan) by KO (Punch), R1

Featherweight Finals: Jeong Yeong Lee (South Korea) def. Yi Zha (China) by Decision (Split)

Lightweight Finals: Anshul Jubli (India) def. Jeka Saragih (Indonesia) by TKO, R2

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Join us live for the big women’s boxing show in New York

Amanda Serrano seeks to unify the women’s 126lb division today, seeking to add the vacant WBA belt to the WBC, WBO and IBF belts she already holds, stepping in against Erika Cruz.

Serrano (43-2-1, 30 KOs) has been around the block, including all the way up to 135lbs against Katie Taylor last year, and wants to cement herself as one of the greats of the women’s game. Cruz (15-1, 3 KOs) is not nearly as experienced, and will be hoping to pull off a shock to put herself on the map.

This card will be available on DAZN. The card starts at 8pm ET, with ringwalks for the main event expected at approximately 9.50pm ET, although stay tuned here for updates on that.

Results

IBF, WBC, WBO and WBA women’s flyweight world title fight: Amanda Serrano vs. Erika Cruz Hernandez;

IBF, WBC, WBO and WBA women’s super featherweight world title fight: Alycia Baumgardner vs. Elhem Mekhaled

Super lightweight: Richard Hitchins vs. John Bauza

Flyweight: Yankiel Rivera UD8 Fernando Diaz 79-73, 79-73 78-74

Women’s featherweight: Skye Nicolson UD10 Tania Alvarez 100-90, 97-93, 98-92

Women’s super bantamweight: Ramala Ali UD10 Avril Mathie 99-91 x 3

Women’s super middleweight: Shadasia Green TKO6 Elin Cederroos

Lightweight: Harley Mederos TKO6 Julio Madera

Super lightweight: Aaron Aponte UD8 Joshua David Rivera 80-72 x 3

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Join us tonight on Bloody Elbow for results and play-by-play (main event) as Bellator 290 comes to the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California.

The headliner for the card is the retirement fight of MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko. He will rematch Ryan Bader with the Bellator Heavyweight Championship up for grabs. Bader defeated Fedor in just 35 seconds in their first fight to claim the vacant title in early 2019, and he has held it ever since.

The co-main will be for the Bellator middleweight title, with Johnny Eblen defending against Anatoly Tokov.

This card is unique in the fact that the three-fight main card will air live on CBS and Paramount+. The eleven-fight main card will kick off at 6pm ET/3pm PT, and will be streamed on Bellator’s YouTube channel. The main card will kick off at 9pm ET/6pm PT.

Join us and let us know what you think of tonight’s fights.

Main Card

Ryan Bader vs. Fedor Emelianenko

Johnny Eblen vs. Anatoly Tokov

Sabah Homasi vs. Brennan Ward

Preliminary Card

Neiman Gracie vs. Dante Schiro

Lorenz Larkin vs. Mukhamed Berkhamov

Henry Corrales vs. Akhmed Magomedov

Steve Mowry vs. Ali Isaev

Chris Gonzalez vs. Max Rohskopf

Grant Neal vs. Karl Albrektsson

Alejandra Lara vs. Diana Avsaragova

Darrion Caldwell vs. Nikita Mikhailov

Jaylon Bates vs. Jornel Lugo

Isaiah Hokit vs. Peter Ishiguro

Ethan Hughes vs. Yusuf Karakaya

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You’re very unlikely to find a collection of goofs and frauds like this anytime soon.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, kids. A group of adults that should know better decided that due to some absurd superstition involving a rodent in the middle of nowhere, we were doomed to six more weeks of winter. So, yeah. Whatever. I know I’m gonna stay toasty with my trusty whiskey to keep me upright. In the meantime, we can only hope for a placid end to a wretched season. And to stay busy, we’ve got a mega treat for you this week.

So we start off with one of my favorite guys in all of the splendor that is the internet, our guy Jerry at Fight Commentary Breakdowns. No, no actual competition footage this time. No, no practical techniques to evaluate, either. It’s actually one of my favorite things whether it’s combat sports-related or not: special magic stuff.

See, it’s a Tai Chi compilation of healers and magic stuff using “energy” to control and heal people. It’s just… look, you gotta see this for yourself:

This doesn’t just start dumb, it gets legit hilarious in record time. There’s a minimal/no-touch guy using energy to launch guys around and deflect attacks. And that sort of thing is fairly common on the internet, where the abundance of this type of material lets us see just how frequent this kind of scam was prior to the ubiquity of the internet.

But even as a seasoned veteran of watching dumb shit like this, I gotta tell you — this was some choice nonsense. My man was taking on a small army all by himself. The audible gasp I let out when I saw this, for example:

The whole thing is just dumb. It’s funny on it’s face, but wow. And let’s not make any mistakes, people still believe in and fall for this sort of thing all the time. And they’ll pony up a hefty sum to be involved in it as well. But there’s something about watching this particular variety, that raw uncut bullshido, that makes this extra hilarious. The stern and focused sifu, the befuddled Western journalist, the delivery, all of it.

And check out the guy that Jerry and his boys affectionately nicknamed “Ponytail“:

For the love of Christ, how is he unable to move a septuagenarian, even with terrible form? If my dad saw me doing some goofy stuff like this he’d demand I quit what I was doing and get a CDL or a warehouse job, immediately.

But wait, there’s more! Another variation that I consider to be elite: the Seated Master.

You’ve all seen this. An old (usually very old) man (always a man) sits in a chair and dominates opponents rushing at him. And this old dude appears to be bothered that he’s even exerting what little effort he actually is just sitting there.

We all know and understand that this is more about partner compliance, to a degree. Most of it is rooted in the subconscious, utilizing the power of suggestion to push this to a further degree. But look at the student this time. It’s not some young whippersnapper with hair like the dude from Color Me Badd (you know good and goddamn well which one). It’s another old dude.

Bro, if I saw my dad doing some goofy stuff like this I’d demand he quit what he was doing and get a CDL or a warehouse job, immediately.

After that, it’s all quick hits. Snippets of the same sort of thing, but all of them just as ridiculous and frankly, rather insulting. There’s even an older lady doing the Seated Master routine on a talk show, a rarity. You don’t see too many people like this brought on to TV shows like that very often. It’s all highly enjoyable once you shut off the part of your brain that reminds you that these “students“ are getting fleeced and are in fact victims.

Ain’t enough alcohol to get me through much more of this, but we’ll try.

Next we’ve got African Warriors Fighting Championship, still goi`ng strong. This bout is lovely, the usual Wild West Shootout tension that you can expect in these duels is there. Lots of feints, probing shots and good movement.

The decisive blow doesn’t even look like too much until you see the replay. The victor nails his opponent in a way that makes the guy’s temple kiss the ground. It’s as ruthless as advertised with a walkoff. Lovely action, as usual.

SAMBOFIAS brings us more joy this week, with a bout from the World Youth and Junior championships. Lots to go over here, but in particular the leglock attempts and brief encounters on the ground were very nice.

Here’s a treat. International Lethwei Federation Japan had this one in the vault: Pro-wrestler Yuiga vs current UFC bantamweight Julia Stoliarenko. It’s a quick match with Stoliarenko pushing a blistering pace.

It’s actually pretty great, although it does seem that Julia gets a little carried away and forgets that this isn’t an MMA fight when she follows up with ground strikes. But she was way too much for her opponent, brutalizing with knees and elbows. The lack of proper gloves and use of minimal hand protection was not a concern at all for her.

Certainly can’t question her toughness, this was great.

Here’s a rough watch. We’ve got a series of Bare Knuckle highlights and knockouts courtesy of YouTube user SOG MMA. Not too many proper knockouts, exactly. But certainly some brutal stoppages and a lot of impressive moments.

He’s also got a compilation of throws from Muhammad Mokaev, affectionately dubbed “Dagestan Airlines“. It’s adorable, until you picture yourself getting ragdolled like this.

Finally, we turn full circle to less-than-honest brokers. This time, it’s this classic featuring Bruce Silva, a Kung Fu master that had an adorable snafu on live TV in Hawaii.

All things considered, it could have gone so much worse. The presenter played it off and it continued with both in good spirits. They had a show to sell, after all. So that was nice.

Hope you’re always a javelin’s throw from the crowning of the king. And remember – you might think you can fight, but there are many guys like you all over the world.

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The UFC Hall of Famer believes Covington could be outside of the title picture if he doesn’t get a fight scheduled soon. 

With the rest of the UFC welterweight division moving along, Daniel Cormier hopes Colby Covington gets a fight to avoid being stuck in a perpetual state of limbo.

Recently, the promotion has announced pivotal fights such as Leon Edwards vs. Kamaru Usman III and Gilbert Burns vs. Jorge Masvidal. Though unscheduled, Khamzat Chimaev and Belal Muhammad find themselves atop the division and have bolstered their cases for a potential championship opportunity next. Noticeably absent from that group was Colby Covington, who has yet to return to the Octagon after defeating Jorge Masvidal at UFC 272 this past March.

“The only guy that’s missing is Colby Covington,” said Cormier on a recent episode of DC & RC on ESPN. “What about 1A or 1B? He’s been 1B for so long. What about Colby? Is he going to be fighting Belal Muhammad next? Is he going to fight Khamzat? What does all this do for Colby Covington? Where is Colby Covington?”

Shortly after his win over Masvidal, ‘Chaos’ was allegedly assaulted by ‘Gamebred’ outside a restaurant in Miami Beach, Fla. As a result, Covington suffered several injuries, including a broken tooth, wrist abrasion and ‘brain injury.’ Masvidal was charged with aggravated battery and criminal mischief, but has entered not guilty pleas to both charges.

Since then, the only Covington-related update came from UFC president Dana White, who said in August that the UFC was ‘making plans’ for him to fight soon. Those plans have yet to be revealed, which has left Cormier concerned about his status as a contender.

“He won his last fight, but time has passed,” said Cormier. “Right after he beat him, with Leon Edwards becoming the champion, if Kamaru didn’t take the fight, we could’ve been like, ‘Well, Colby’s long been 1B’, but time is passing. Being idle isn’t the best for a guy in a division that’s constantly moving. But the moment Colby Covington starts to re-insert himself, he’ll be loud, he’ll be boisterous, he’ll have a lot to say and people will start to pay attention. And then right away, he’s back relevant because we have not seen anyone but Kamaru Usman for a really long time solve the puzzle that is Colby Covington.

“So I think he’ll be relevant for a while, but I think he needs to get rolling again because momentum is key in this sport,” continued Cormier. “And when you don’t have momentum, nobody’s really checking for you, and I think Colby Covington needs to make sure he doesn’t find himself in that place where he is in no man’s land out on an island by himself.”

As Cormier mentioned, Covington has options in Muhammad or Chimaev for his return. ‘Remember the Name’ and ‘Borz’ have repeatedly called out the No. 2 contender in recent months.

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

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Vera vs. Sandhagen is no longer happening at the UFC APEX. 

The UFC has decided to go in a different direction for one of its upcoming headliners.

Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated reported on Thursday that Marlon Vera vs. Cory Sandhagen has shifted from UFC Vegas 69 to UFC San Antonio, an event scheduled for March 25 at the AT&T Center in Texas. The promotion was reportedly finalizing Raquel Pennington vs. Irene Aldana II for the headliner of the Fight Night, but it appears as though that has been nixed.

There was no report on a new headliner for UFC Vegas 69, which is set for February 18 at the UFC APEX.

In his most recent appearance, Vera extended his win streak to four with a ‘Performance of the Night’ awarded KO of Dominick Cruz at UFC San Diego in August. Prior to that, ‘Chito’ added Davey Grant, Frankie Edgar and Rob Font to his resume. With a ‘solid win’ over Sandhagen, Vera believes he should be next in line for a potential championship opportunity.

Following back-to-back losses to T.J. Dillashaw and Petr Yan, Sandhagen returned to the Octagon this past September. The ‘Sandman’ earned a fourth-round TKO of Song Yadong at UFC Vegas 60 after opening up a gnarly gash that led to the fight being stopped in between rounds.

With the shift, the line-up for UFC San Antonio is as follows:

• Marlon Vera vs. Cory Sandhagen
• Maycee Barber vs. Andrea Lee
• Chidi Njokuani vs. Albert Duraev
• Holly Holm vs. Yana Santos
• C.J. Vergara vs. Daniel da Silva
• Manel Kape vs. Alex Perez
• Sean Brady vs. Michel Pereira
• Daniel Pineda vs. Tucker Lutz
• Trevin Giles vs. Preston Parsons
• Alex Caceres vs. Nate Landwehr
• Steven Peterson vs. Lucas Alexander

Stay tuned to Bloody Elbow for more updates to the event as they become available in the coming weeks.

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

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Get the lowdown on the main card action of UFC Vegas 68, headlined by fan favorite Derrick Lewis looking to get back on track against the crafty Serghei Spivac.

UFC Vegas 68 is… well, it’s an event. I hate to crap on cards, but this is one of the more underwhelming cards the UFC has put on in some time. The most notable names populate the heavyweight division, including former title challenger Derrick Lewis. Typically, Lewis would be a major boon to headline a card. Unfortunately, he’s on a two-fight skid, indicating he may no longer be one of the best big men on the planet. He’s facing Serghei Spivac, someone who was once a punchline within the division. Y’all remember Jared Vanderaa calling for a fight with Spivac even before being awarded his UFC contract via DWCS? Well, now Spivac is headlining a card opposite Lewis. That’s a hell of a climb, but there are many who don’t recognize the growth Spivac has endured. In other words, many see him as a mediocre B-side.

Many of you may remember this contest was scheduled in November, only for Lewis to pull out the day of the event. Lewis recently revealed it was a COVID related withdrawal, but the UFC was prepared this time around anyway. Fellow heavyweights Marcin Tybura and Blagoi Ivanov aren’t the sexiest names in terms of appeal, but they both have numbers next to their names and have headlined cards before. That doesn’t make this a good card, but at least the UFC has a contingency plan should Lewis or Spivac need to pull out. After all, with all due respect, no one wants to see Da Un Jung and Devin Clark headline this card….

For the prelims preview, click here. For an audio preview, click here.

Derrick Lewis vs. Serghei Spivac, Heavyweight

There’s a long list of things we could point to for Lewis’ recent decline. Does he have the fire in his belly to compete any more? Lewis has made a pretty damn good living in the sport. Given he never had much of a fire for the sport itself – Lewis always said he was in it for the money – it’s reasonable to suspect he is fat and happy at this point. There’s also the fact that Lewis’ chin has completely eroded. He’s never been a defensive savant and has maintained one of the busier schedules. He’s taken a lot of damage over the years. Perhaps his back issues have finally caught up with him. It’s all hard to say….

There are a couple of other things that could be pointed out. Each of Lewis’ last three losses came in front of a live audience in Texas. Lewis has admitted to feeling pressure to perform well in front of his home state. Perhaps even pressing things to the point he isn’t performing to the best of his abilities. Also, did y’all see the names of those who Lewis lost to? Cyril Gane is by far the most technical striker in the division and isn’t a pillow-fisted striker. As far as Tai Tuivasa and Sergei Pavlovich go, they are two of the hardest hitters in the sport. There’s no shame in having your block knocked off by either man.

In other words, if Spivac is going to beat Lewis, it isn’t going to be in the same manner as the recent men who handed Lewis his most recent L’s. To be fair to Spivac, he has improved exponentially on the feet. He can make quality use of his lanky frame at this juncture, fighting some on the outside with a developing jab. It used to be all he could do was operate in the clinch in hopes of securing the takedown where he could execute his vaunted ground game. The Moldovan has a heavy top game that tends to wear down opponents enough in hopes of securing a submission.

There’s serious questions to how effective holding down Lewis will be. Aleksei Oleinik, perhaps the greatest submission specialist in heavyweight history, wasn’t able to submit Lewis. It could be argued Oleinik was well beyond his prime and Lewis is further out of his prime than he was when he fought Oleinik. That said, I have a hard time believing Lewis can’t continue to bench press his opponent off him when he decides that’s what he wants to do. And while Daniel Cormier may have been able to smother and submit Lewis, Spivac isn’t anywhere near the wrestler Cormier is.

Even if Lewis is losing his fire, it’s hard to believe he’s lost any of his power. Lewis is always just one punch away from ending a fight. That Spivac doesn’t have the power of those who have recently put Lewis away adds to the likelihood of Lewis emerging with his hand raised. Plus, people tend to underestimate Lewis’ fight IQ. Remember how he waited for Curtis Blaydes to shoot for a takedown before knocking his block off with an uppercut? There’s also the recent pics of Lewis where he appears to be in the best shape of his life. That’s an indication motivation isn’t a problem for him. Not having the pressure to perform in front of his home crowd, I expect Lewis to settle down and find the finish. Lewis via KO of RD1

Marcin Tybura vs. Blagoy Ivanov, Heavyweight

There isn’t a more overlooked heavyweight on the roster than Tybura. The Pole has won six of his last seven fights. That includes snatching the zero from hyped prospect Alexandr Romanov. Unfortunately for him, Tybura has been labeled a boring fighter and hasn’t been able to shake that off.

The thing with Tybura is that he’s good at everything, but not great at anything. That allows him to diversify his attack to go after whatever his opponent’s weakness is. For most fighters, specifically targeting an area on an opponent is playing with fire given it doesn’t always match up with their weaknesses. In Tybura’s case, his fight IQ makes it a proposition that has played out in his favor more often than not at this stage.

Aside from the fight IQ, there’s a strong argument Ivanov is a similar type of fighter. The reason for that is Ivanov goes to a high volume of decisions, lacks power, and has proven to be more than competent on the mat. All of those are accurate descriptions of Tybura. But it’s not so simple as that. Ivanov’s most defining characteristic is his insane durability. In a division noted for KO’s, Ivanov has never been stopped via strikes. However, while durability is an essential trait to have to become a champion, a hard ceiling is going to be set if that is the most notable trait.

Fortunately for Ivanov, Tybura isn’t a championship level fighter. That said, Tybura is the rightful favorite. In addition to consistently showing a better fight IQ, Tybura is the better athlete with superior grappling. With that athleticism, he’s also the more diverse and busier striker. The road to victory is there for Ivanov. The problem is he rarely looks to utilize his wrestling. Despite that, Ivanov has a habit of making his fights close, capable of absorbing insane amounts of damage in order to deal out his offense. That said, the stout Bulgarian will have a hell of a distance to cross to do that. I wouldn’t put money on it, but I do ultimately feel comfortable picking Tybura. Tybura via decision

• There doesn’t appear to be anyone more consistently inconsistent within the light heavyweight division than Devin Clark. Clark is one of the better athletes in the division, but he has also struggled to make the best of his gifts. Part of that can be attributed to him being on the small side for 205, making it difficult for him to implement his wrestling base. When Clark is able to consistently hit his takedowns, wins tend to follow. He’ll have a hard time putting Da Un Jung on his back. The native of Korea is one of the bigger members of the division and has successfully fought off the majority of his opponent’s takedowns attempts. Granted, there haven’t been too many and Jung hasn’t faced any opponents who have established themselves as someone who can get the fight to the mat at this level. What Jung has done is dispose of opponents less disciplined than he is. Most would agree that Clark would be another one to fall into that category. Clark is going to have a hard time outpointing Jung given the discrepancy in reach and he’s only picked up one finish in his seven UFC wins. Clark is talented enough that it wouldn’t be a shock for him to win, but it shouldn’t be expected. Jung via TKO of RD3
• For many, Doo Ho Choi is a major what-if. Choi had the look of a future contender back in 2016, even after coming up short in his epic battle with Cub Swanson. Choi has only fought twice since that loss, coming up short in both of those contests. Even worse, he hasn’t been able to make the final bell in either contest either. Perhaps that brawl with Swanson took more out of him than we ever thought. Even if he still has the heavy hands and speed he was known for, it won’t mean much if his confidence is shot. The UFC does appear to be giving him his best chance to get back on track. No disrespect to Kyle Nelson, but his 1-4 UFC record isn’t exactly inspiring. Nelson is coming back down to 145, a division where he has struggled with his stamina. That said, Nelson does have plenty of power and doesn’t appear to be phased by his losses. Nelson is a big step down from Choi’s previous level of competition and Choi is also a far superior athlete. Plus, while it’s been a long while since we’ve seen Choi, it wasn’t due to an injury layoff; he was gone due to mandatory military service. If Chan Sung Jung and Kyung Ho Kang are any indication, Choi should come back looking strong. I’ll lean towards the Korean representative for those reasons, but I put some serious thought into picking Nelson for the upset. Choi via TKO of RD3
• Yusaku Kinoshita was one of my least favorite signings off DWCS last year. It has nothing to do with his talent. It has everything to do with his age and lack of experience. To be fair to the 22-year-old, several of Kinoshita’s opponents had extensive experience themselves. But they also appeared to have too much experience, most of those opponents being well past their prime. Kinoshita does have a natural feel for striking, threatening off the counter with power. What we don’t know is how he’ll reply to a savvy striker with the ability to put him to sleep in his prime. We’ll find out, provided Adam Fugitt allows him to stand and trade. The 33-year-old is a wrestler at heart, but he’s been able to prove himself a threat on the feet in recent contests. Kinoshita’s ground game wasn’t tested in Japan the same way it will be tested now that he’s in the UFC. Even more concerning, he didn’t look particularly impressive in the few times he was tested. I have vacillated on this pick quite a bit as I can see Fugitt having his way with Kinoshita on the mat, but I’m ultimately leaning towards the more talented and aggressive youngster to make good on his prodigious promise. Kinoshita via TKO of RD3

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