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The rising bantamweight star knows how serious concussions can be.

Even slap fighting aficionados know that their brand of combat pseudo-sports violence is a tough sell.

“Ninety percent of the people can’t stand this sport—they think it’s unfair,” SlapFIGHT Championship founder and Power Slap consultant JT Tilly recently told the New Yorker.

Slap fighting competitions, where two opponents stand across a table from one another and club each other across the jaw with as much force as possible—while the clubee stands, un-defended and unflinching—have become a viral video sensation over the last half decade. Enough so that UFC president Dana White decided to jump on the bandwagon, with his own Ultimate Fighter styled reality show: Power Slap.

The attempt to bring this niche spectacle into the main stream has brought fourth the expected chorus of backlash. But even hardened combat sports veterans are finding it difficult to stomach. Top UFC bantamweight contender Sean O’Malley gave his thoughts on White’s endeavor on a recent episode of his BrOMalley Show webcast.

“It’s weird because some people just love it,” O’Malley noted (transcript via MMA Junkie). “I could see maybe watching the TV series part of it like ‘The Ultimate Fighter,’ like them at the house, meeting them, seeing their back stories. But the actual ‘sport,’ whatever you wanna call it, itself, I can’t watch.”

“I cannot watch it. I don’t know if it’s—I can’t watch it, because I understand what concussions are? I understand, I’ve been through them. I know how bad it is to do that to your brain. … I can’t even see it.”

He’s not the only one. Former UFC champion and old-school MMA legend Frank Shamrock called it “horrible. Sad. Sickening.” And rising light welterweight boxing contender Ryan Garcia called it “a horrible idea,” adding that it “needs to be stopped.”

At the moment, White and Power Slap front-man Frank Lamicella have plans to parlay the show’s first 8-episode season into a PPV slap fighting event. While ratings for the first episode were fairly dismal, the show did see a decent boost in viewership for their second episode. It only remains to be seen if it can find a big enough audience to make the whole thing pay off beyond the short-lived spectacle it currently appears to be.

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Laura Sanko will be sitting Octagon-side this weekend at UFC Vegas 68 to provide color commentary for the first time in her promotional career.

Commonly seen at UFC events conducting backstage fighter interview, or providing insight at the pre/post-fight analyst desk, Laura Sanko will now make her color commentary debut this weekend at UFC Vegas 68: Derrick Lewis vs. Serghei Spivac.

“Fancy” Laura Sanko went 4-1 in amateur MMA, before winning her lone professional bout by rear-naked choke at Invicta FC 4 in January of 2013. Looking back, that was actually a super-stacked card rich with now-notable names like Amanda Nunes, Tecia Torres, Rose Namajunas, Joanne Wood, Leslie Smith, Bec Rawlings, and Carla Esparza to name a few. Why so many recognizable names on one card? Well, it was only a month after this event that the UFC held its inaugural women’s MMA match, Ronda Rousey vs. Liz Carmouche at UFC 157 on February 23, 2013.

Speaking of firsts, it was at UFC 1 in November of 1993 that Kathy Long became the first woman to ever commentate for the promotion. That was a one-and-done as commentating would become a male-dominated position over the course of the next 30-YEARS. Three, zero. Thirty. Three decades later, and Sanko will now be the second woman in UFC history to provide color commentary for an event.

The golden age of the UFC saw the likes of Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg at the commentary helm, with the ever-classy Jon Anik joining the stable in 2011. It was in 2014 that John Gooden and Dan Hardy were brought in to oversee the overseas responsibilities, and then we also had a variety of fighters and coaches frequently making cameos over the years. We should also mention that Hardy’s term didn’t end so well.

A big shift happened to the booth in 2016 after Goldberg’s departure, when Anik stepped up to lead the play-by-play team, and former champions Daniel Cormier and Dominick Cruz were added in. One year after that, Paul Felder was thrown in the mix.

From there the UFC acquired Bellator’s commentator Jimmy Smith in 2018, but his tenure would be short-lived. The UFC elected to not renew Jimmy’s contract going into the 2019 calendar year. Smith stated that the brass told him that ‘we’re going with UFC fighters for 2019,’ and former middleweight champion Michael Bisping was brought in to replace him. Despite the UFC’s ‘reason’ for dropping Smith, a lovely man (but non-fighter) in Brendan Fitzgerald was pulled up from Dana White’s Contender Series duties to start covering UFC events. Fitzy actually just re-signed a multi-year deal with the promotion back in October of 2022.

That brings us back to present day, where Sanko is bringing UFC commentary full circle by becoming the first woman in the booth since UFC 1. Sanko isn’t just a talking head. She has been around the MMA scene for quite some time, is a devoted martial artist, and has professional competition experience under her belt. She clearly knows her shit, and I for one am looking forward to some fresh air on the commentary team. That’s not to say that Sanko won’t be spewing out her own biases, because she certainly will, but it’ll be refreshing to not have to hear the same ol’ tired underhook rhetoric.

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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“BMF” champion Jorge Masvidal doesn’t fancy the idea of a five-round fight against this former title challenger.

After months of making his intentions known, former UFC title contender Gilbert Burns finally got his wish. “Durinho” will now co-headline UFC 287 against the first and only “BMF” champion Jorge Masvidal.

Burns, however, wants to up the ante. He now wants a five-rounder with the “BMF” title on the line.

“Gamebred” got the chance to respond to the new challenge in his Monday appearance on the MMA Hour.

“[If] they pay me BMF money, which the UFC ain’t going to pup it up for more money, so sorry Gilbert. I already got my contract. I already signed my shit. I could give a f–k less,” said Masvidal, who recently parted ways with his longtime management team.

“Three rounds is more than enough that I need for Gilbert. I like all the publicity and extra that he’s putting into it, but brother, three rounds is all I need for that.”

Masvidal so far has nothing but compliments towards Burns, an opponent he sees as an ideal matchup.

“I’m glad it’s a guy like Gilbert. … I’ve been in this sport, and it’s only been to fight the best of the best of the best in the world, and he’s perfect in a lot of ways for me to test my grappling, because I know he’s going to come test me in grappling.

“I know he’s going to talk a big game that he’s going to come and strike with me and all this BMF shit, but at the end of the day, I’m ‘Gamebred,’ he’s Gilbert, he’s going to go for the takedown, 100 miles per hour and hope that he gets in, and if that fails, he’ll come strike with me.

“So I’m going to be prepared to grapple him, and the next and the next and the next, because I know I’ve got the hands to beat all these guys. I’ve got the knees and elbows that change lives in seconds. I’ve just got to fine-tune a couple things, and I’ve been working on it.”

UFC 287 happens on April 8 at a still undetermined venue. Headlining the event is the middleweight title rematch between Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya.

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Former rivals Quinton Jackson and Wanderlei Silva are open to a fifth encounter to settle their score.

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton Jackson may be the latest veteran to be transitioning to boxing, and he would like to take another one with him. In an interview on YouTube channel No Jumper, Rampage’expressed his desire to take on longtime rival Wanderlei Silva for a fifth time.

Quinton already owns two knockout wins over Silva, one at Bellator 206 and one at UFC 92. Before the wins though, Jackson lost to Wanderlei twice during the Pride days, getting knocked out at Pride 28 and Pride Final Conflict 2003. Now, the 44-year-old wishes to settle the dispute once and for all.

“There’s a couple of guys I own some ass-kickings too. For one, Wanderlei (Silva). Me and him, we fought four times. We’re 2-2, I would like to box him or something. Even the score.”

Having seen Jackson’s statements, Silva said he was open to a challenge on his official Instagram account.

“It seem I’ll have to pick up my gloves again. Would you like to see this one?” Wanderlei asked his followers.

Both men have been away from competition for quite some time though. Jackson’s (38-14) last outing took place in December 2019, when he got knocked out by Fedor Emelianenko. In fact, the 44-year-old’s TKO win over Wanderlei, in September 2018, is the most recent win on Rampage’s record.

Meanwhile, Silva (35-14-1-1 NC) has been away from the cage since his aforementioned loss to Jackson in September 2018, but he also dropped a unanimous decision to Chael Sonnen before that in June 2017. The 46-year-old’s most recent win dates back March 2013, when he knocked out Brian Stann.

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Jorge Masvidal has split from his former management team. While he claims it’s not about money owed, the two sides are apparently now in court to iron things out.

It’s a good thing Jorge Masvidal has his bout with Gilbert Burns lined up, because the former Strikeforce standout and UFC welterweight title contender has been making most of his reputation lately for his fights outside the Octagon. Masivdal is currently involved in an ongoing legal battle with former friend, teammate, and opponent Colby Covington over allegations that the 38-year-old assaulted Covington outside a Miami restaurant in March of last year.

However, in a recent interview with MMA Junkie, ‘Gamebred’ also revealed that he’s got another (although seemingly less dramatic) court case ongoing. That case is the result of an apparent split between Masvidal and First Round Management. Owned and operated by Malki & Ibrahim Kawa, Masvidal has been a long-time client of FRM.

Reports that the two parties had severed their business relationship first surfaced back in December of last year, although they were still apparently on good terms at the time. That seems to be much less the case now.

“100 percent split with them,” Masvidal said. “You know, my momma always said, ‘Babe, if you have nothing good to say, don’t say nothing at all.’ So right now we’re going through some turmoil, litigation, that it’s not fair. I’m not going to talk about this or that right now, just we’re still going through it. At the end of this chapter, when all these things get done, I’ll have an exact report on that. We’re going through court and I don’t want to talk about anything right now, anything more than what I just said.

“We’re not in the greatest of terms, I’ll tell you that. I have no ill will towards them. I don’t owe them any money. They don’t owe me any money, but there’s other things that have affected the relationship severely. That they could fix, that they could’ve fixed by now, but they haven’t, so I’m just waiting for these things to get resolved.”

At one point, Masvidal was even apparently in a long-term relationship with Iman Kawa, sister to the FRM owners—a point Colby Covington jumped on in their now-infamous feud. Notable for their antagonistic style of media relations, Masvidal sounds excited to be working on his own terms now.

“They have their own way of doing stuff and it doesn’t appeal to a lot of people. There was a lot of people that I wasn’t talking because they have beef with them. I’m talking to everybody right now. Every week someone is trying to pitch me to go to lunch or some f*cking movie script this, sponsorship there. Ok, one day closed, but 2,000 windows opened. I’m managing myself.”

Masvidal is set to take on Burns in the co-main event of UFC 287, taking place on April 8th at a yet-to-be-announced location. The PPV event is scheduled to be headlined by a middleweight title fight rematch, with former champion Israel Adesanya looking to gain back his title against longtime foe Alex Pereira. Stay tuned to Bloody Elbow for more news and updates.

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The ‘Trailblazer’ wants to clear up some of the claims made by fellow UFC fighter Joseph Holmes recently. 

Kevin Holland says Joseph Holmes’ claims about an assault after Xtreme Knockout 60 on Friday night are exaggerated.

Holmes claimed that he and Holland ran into each other after the event, where the ‘Trailblazer’ allegedly grabbed ‘Ugly Man’ by the arm when they passed each other on the stairs at the Statler. Shortly after, Holmes claimed he was ‘jumped’ by several people with Holland.

In his version of events, Holland admitted that he had a run-in with Holmes on the stairs, but it was the Contender Series alum who grabbed him first. And as far as his people jumping Holmes, Holland said he had no recollection of that happening.

“Guys, check this out,” said Holland on Instagram. “Last night we were at the XKO fights having a good time, enjoying ourselves, and we’re on our way out. Of course, I see ‘Ugly Man’ Joe, not going to deny that. He was walking up the stairs, I was walking down the stairs. He didn’t want to walk to the other side of the stairs where the guy he was beefing was, so he walked in my side of the stairs, like I was going to move. I was like, ‘Bro, chill out.’ As soon as I put my hand up to say chill out, he grabbed me. As soon as he grabbed me, we almost went flying down the stairs. Quick reactions, neither one of us fell over.

“By the time I go to fix my coat, I don’t know what happened,” continued Holland. “He was doing all this stuff that he talks about. I don’t remember none of this stuff. All I remember is him getting in a fight, and me breaking it up. So, sounds good, that’s the part of the story that sticks. All that other stuff that’s going on, that’s drama that you have with another man, that’s between you and another man. Don’t put me in it, dog. Don’t use my name for clout, don’t put me in your BS.”

Though Holmes said Holland intervened and ended the assault, he still wanted a fight with him in the UFC. In response to Holmes, Holland offered to spar him for $ 20,000 at his gym.

Holmes has yet to respond to the offer.

“If you want to fight with me, we got gyms,” said Holland. “You said to tell the UFC to send a contract. I doubt the UFC will send you a contract. If you want to spar, you can spar me at my gym.”

As he awaits a response from Holmes, Holland is set for his next UFC assignment. The 30-year-old shares the Octagon with Santiago Ponzinibbio at UFC 287 on April 8.

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

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Bloody Elbow presents its fight week coverage for second Fight Night event of 2023 from the APEX center: UFC Vegas 68, formerly UFC Seoul, which goes down on Saturday, February 4th & 5th (overnight), from Las Vegas, Nevada. UFC features the tournament finale to their second season of ‘Road to UFC’ during the Prelims card this weekend.

In our main event we get a heavyweight contender clash that will see No. 8 ranked ‘Black Beast’ Derrick Lewis take on No. 12 ranked Serghei Spivac.

The co-main features a Light Heavyweight scrap between Da Un Jung and Devin Clark. This card also brings us the return of ‘The Korean Superboy’, Doo Ho Choi going up against Kyle Nelson.

Stick with bloodyelbow.com for all the previews, predictions, coverage, odds, & more, right here!

UFC Vegas 68’s main card of five bouts airs live on ESPN+, with a start time of 1AM/10PM ETPT, which are preceded by four ‘Road to UFC – Season 2’ Tournament Prelim bouts, and three early prelims also on ESPN+ at 10/7PM ETPT. Odds for this 12-bout card at: DraftKings Sportsbook.

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Stipe Miocic says he ‘gets it’ with the kind of provisions Francis Ngannou was asking the UFC for, but thinks the promotion is a long way away from things like healthcare and fighter advocacy.

The heart of Francis Ngannou’s dispute with the UFC may have been focused on boxing, contract limits, and (as always) money, but there were a few other aspects to the negotiations that appear to have informed the fighter’s decision to leave the world’s largest MMA promotion.

The Xtreme Couture talent came to the bargaining table hoping to gauge the UFC’s interest in providing a healthcare plan for the athletes on their roster, as well as allowing the placement of a “fighter advocate” in company board meetings. Those ideas accompanied another longtime sore sport for athletes in the Endeavor-owned promotion: improved sponsorship rights. The UFC notoriously restricted the ability for fighters to court outside sponsorship in 2014 with the introduction of Reebok uniforms and the removal of sponsor banners from corners.

“They say, ‘No, we don’t do business like that,’ Ngannou recalled of his negotiations in a recent interview. “They say, ‘Yes, [you] can pay your health insurance?’ and all that. I’m like, ‘Yes, I can pay my health insurance. At this point health insurance for me is not a problem. But, how about those guys that are at the bottom? Make $ 10k + $ 10k or, lost the fight, made $ 10k? They can’t really afford that health insurance.’ And I have been there. So, it’s something that I still carry in my heart.”

“I knew it couldn’t happen, but I asked.”

Former rival and two-time heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic seems sympathetic to Ngannou’s cause. The 40-year-old professional firefighter has had his own string of difficult negotiations with the UFC, and in an interview with the MMA Hour admitted that he feels the promotion is a long way away from the kinds of changes the Cameroonian-born Frenchman was calling for.

“I get it,” Miocic said. “I mean, it’s going to be a long time before any of that happens—[Ngannou was] trying to move [the sport] in the right direction, which is great, but it’s going to be a long time before any of that happens.”

For his part, Miocic wishes that Ngannou had been able to come to an agreement with the UFC so that he and the ‘Predator’ could have a chance to face off for a third time inside the Octagon. Instead, the Strong Style fighter hopes to find himself at the front of the line for a title shot after Jon Jones and Ciryl Gane face off for the vacated belt in March. And maybe, just possibly, face off against Ngannou in the boxing ring one day instead.

“That’d be fantastic [to box Ngannou],” Miocic responded when asked about the possibility. “Hell yeah, I love boxing.”

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Holmes offered to fight Holland in the UFC after a reported altercation at a regional MMA event on Friday night. 

UFC middleweight Joseph Holmes wants to fight Kevin Holland after getting into an altercation at a regional MMA event.

Following Xtreme Knockout 60 on Friday night, Holmes went live on Instagram and claimed he was ‘jumped’ from behind by some people who were part of Holland’s entourage.

“I just got freaking jumped!,” announced on social media. “I can’t think of the last time I got jumped. And where my people at? None of y’all around me backing me up. None of you. What’s the question marks about? What more do I gotta say? I got jumped!

“They beat me up, they beat me down, the stomped on me when I was down,” continued Holmes. “F—k Kevin Holland. Bro, f—k that guy.”

According to Holmes, it all started after he and Holland had a run-in when they were leaving the Statler. He explained he and the ’Trailblazer’ had a pre-existing feud after Holmes dated an ex-girlfriend of Holland’s uncle.

When Holmes and Holland settled down, ‘Ugly Man’ said he suddenly felt several people punching him.

“We were at XKO at the Statler in downtown, I’m walking through the venue, and me and Kevin already don’t get along,” said Holmes. “Kevin Holland. So I’m walking through the venue, he ends up being in front of me, I make quick eye contact, continue on my way, don’t say a word. Don’t touch him, don’t look at him, nothing. So then, literally less than 10 minutes later, me and my girl were about to leave, for a quick second. I’m like, ‘Hey, shoot, I just left my clothes upstairs,’ because I changed clothes. I got back to run upstairs where my fighter was, to grab my clothes that I left, and I see Kevin Holland coming down the stairs. I’m walking up the stairs, he’s coming down the stairs, he literally stops in front of me, looking at me, and he looks at me and reaches his hands out, like he’s stopping me from walking upstairs, and then he grabs on my f—king arm.

“So what am I going to do? I’m like, ‘Nah n—a, get your hands off me,’ and I back him up, like hell nah, you ain’t about to be grabbing on me,” continued Holmes. “And then this n—a, pop, pop, pop, and the next thing you know I’m getting punched in the back of my f—king head. And I’m sitting there like, ‘What the f—k?’ Next thing you know my glasses get tossed across the room, my earphones get tossed off me, I’m just standing here, like, confused. Like, ‘What the f—k did I do?’ I’m just trying to walk up some goddamn stairs.”

Holmes said that Holland did not punch him and even told his people to get off before security showed up. However, because of his involvement, Holmes wants the UFC to send Holland a contract.

“So after being attacked, all the security is now surrounding me, after I’m the one that was attacked, now the security is surrounding me, and I’m like, you know what, ‘Y’all are right. I’m going to be the bigger person. Totally fine,’” said Holmes. “I look at Kevin and I was like, ‘Sign the contract when it comes.’ We’re going to send you a contract, sign it when it gets there. Because you’re acting all big and bad and tough, meanwhile your boyfriends are just hitting me in the back of the head, for what? Make sure you sign the f—king contract.”

Holmes is 1-2 in the UFC. The Contender Series alum suffered a second-round rear-naked choke loss to Jun Yong Park at UFC Vegas 63 recently.

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

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Conor McGregor was accused of assaulting a woman on a yacht in Ibiza last year.

A 40-year-old woman who made a formal complaint accusing Conor McGregor of assault had her car set ablaze earlier this month (per MailOnline). The woman had claimed that McGregor punched and kicked her on a yacht in Ibiza last year and that she jumped overboard to escape him, breaking her arm in the process.

Irish police confirmed there had been a suspected arson in the Drimnagh neighbourhood of Dublin.

“Gardai are investigating a suspected criminal damage by fire incident that occurred at approximately 10pm on Thursday, January 19, 2023 at a residential premises in Drimnagh, Dublin 12,” read the statement. “No injuries were reported during the course of this incident. No arrests have been made at this stage. Investigations are ongoing.”

MailOnline reports that a day after the fire, the woman filed a civil case against McGregor in Dublin’s High Court over the alleged yacht incident. The civil case petitions the court to ensure that any CCTV, camera phone footage or other physical evidence relevant to her assault claims are protected.

That civil case is due to be heard by the court on February 27.

The alleged yacht incident took place in July 2022. It was then that the woman reported to Spanish police that McGregor had assaulted her after his birthday party. At that time she declined to sign a formal statement with local police.

Earlier this month she filed a formal statement with Irish police, who have since forwarded that statement to their Spanish counterparts. This has prompted Spanish police to re-open their case on the incident.

McGregor, via a spokesperson, has denied these accusations.

McGregor last fought for the UFC in 2021. That year he lost twice to Dustin Poirier, first by TKO (punches) and then by TKO (doctor stoppage). In his second loss to Poirier he suffered a fractured leg which has kept him out of action ever since.

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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