Jake Paul and Tommy Fury got heated for a bit.

Jake Paul and Tommy Fury got in a bit of a scuffle and had to be separated by security during the Artur Beterbiev vs Anthony Yarde event in London.

Right before the main event, both boxers stepped in the ring to promote their upcoming bout. They faced off in the middle, but things got heated once Paul pointed and poked at Fury’s cheek.

After a brief scuffle, tensions cooled down and they naturally still talked some smack, where a shirtless Fury questioned Paul’s previous opponents.

“This shit’s been going on too long. He will never box again. I’m not 50, I ain’t 40, I ain’t an MMA guy. I’ve been doing this my whole life, and I swear to God, you’re finished come 26th of February,” Fury proclaimed.

“I guarantee you, I swear to God, if it’s the last thing I do in boxing, you are over in four weeks. Enjoy the last few weeks of your so-called boxing career.”

Paul responded by calling Fury’s opponents “taxi drivers” and brought up his more accomplished brother, Tyson Fury.

“Tommy has so much to lose. His family’s gonna disown him when I knock him the f—k out,” Paul said. “Sorry, Tyson, I love you, but it’s over for your brother.”

While both men tried to talk smack and intimidate each other, the heavyweight champion in Tyson Fury was seen cackling about the entire situation after.

After their first bout fizzled due to visa issues, Jake Paul and Tommy Fury have been rebooked to face each other once again, this time in Saudi Arabia, on February 26.

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Get ready for Pereira vs. Adesanya II (in MMA!) with this horror-inspired promo from the ‘Last Stylebender’ himself. 

Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya is looking to get fans hyped up for his rematch with Alex Pereira using an iconic character from the Saw franchise.

UFC president Dana White announced on Friday that Pereira vs. Adesanya II was going to headline UFC 287, the upcoming pay-per-view event scheduled for April 8 at a to-be-announced location and venue.

With his rematch confirmed, Adesanya shared a promo that featured clips of Billy the Puppet, the sinister-looking, tricycle-riding, game-playing character used by John ‘Jigsaw’ Kramer (played by actor Tobin Bell) in the Saw movies to communicate with his ill-fated victims. Given his strength in communication, the ‘Last Stylebender’ used Billy the Puppet to send a warning to ‘Po Atan’ before they shared the Octagon again.

You can watch the promo below:

“In this game, we don’t keep score…we settle them,” wrote Adesanya.

In his sixth defense at UFC 281 this past November, Adesanya was ahead on the judges’ scorecards against Pereira heading into the 5th round. That was until the Brazilian came forward and connected with a flurry of punches that saw referee Marc Goddard step in and stop the fight, ending Adesanya’s championship reign along with the bout.

Pereira holds three wins against Adesanya, who he also defeated in kickboxing at Glory of Heroes and Glory of Heroes 7, respectively. In 2023 he’ll attempt to go 4-0, but if this promo is any indication, Adesanya expects to get his revenge.

Stay tuned to Bloody Elbow for more updates to UFC 287 as they become available in the coming 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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The former flyweight top contender announced he was stepping away from competition back in October of last year and was granted his release from the UFC.

Askar Askarov’s exit from the UFC could hardly have seemed more sudden. Unbeaten over the first eight years of his career, Askarov suffered his first real setback against Kai Kara France back in March of 2022, losing a unanimous decision to the hard-punching New Zealander.

Still just 30-years-old and with name wins over contenders like Alexandre Pantoja and Joe Benavidez (plus a split draw against current champ Brandon Moreno), even in defeat Askarov seemed primed to contend for UFC gold in the not too distant future. A few months later, however, and the wrestling champion from Dagestan was gone.

“Due to the fact that my return was delayed for health reasons, and it was my last fight under contract (with Brandon Royal), I asked the UFC to release me, to which I received a positive response,” Askarov wrote in a social media post last October. “First, we will put our health in order, then we will see what and how.”

Whatever putting his health in order might have involved, it seems to have happened relatively quickly. In a post to their Instagram account, Chechen MMA organization Absolute Championship Akhmat (ACA) announced that Askarov has signed a contract to compete under the ACA banner.

Formerly Absolute Championship Berkut (ACB)—until regional dictator Ramzan Kadyrov announced that ACB would merge with his own World Fighting Championship Akhmat (WFCA) organization in 2018—Askarov previously competed for the promotion from 2015 to 2018. While there, ‘Bullet’ picked up the ACB flyweight title, defending it twice before making the jump to the UFC.

No word yet on exactly when Askarov expects to take his first fight back in his old stomping grounds, but it seems likely that a fight announcement will be coming in the following weeks.

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Check out the results and highlights of Artur Beterbiev vs Anthony Yarde

Artur Beterbiev looks to keep his perfect knockout streak alive in London today. He faces off against Anthony Yarde, a dangerous puncher in his own right, so whatever happens, it should be dramatic.

Beterbiev (18-0, 18 KOs) is a hugely dangerous puncher, but he has plenty of skill to go with it. His hope is to unify the three light-heavyweight belts he holds with the one held by compatriot Dmitry Bivol, but that fight hasn’t come together yet so instead he’s gone on the road for this. At 38, he can’t afford any slip-ups. Yarde (23-2, 22 KOs) has had a much more meandering career, but he’ll be aiming to prove he’s fixed up some of the holes he’s displayed in the past, and show himself as a true world-level fighter.

This card is available on ESPN+ in the US and BT Sport in the UK. The scheduled start time of the card is 2pm ET, though ESPN+’s schedule doesn’t start till 3:30pm: presumably there will be prelims shown on BT that ESPN won’t carry. Ringwalks for the main event are expected at about 5:30pm ET, but stay tuned here for updates on that.

Update; It seems the ESPN+ stream has started an hour earlier than the schedule said yesterday. Apologies.

Further, in absolutely baffling pacing on this card tonight, as the second televised fight – and the first televised fight on the ESPN+ show- is the other world title fight, between Dalakian and Jimenez, and not one of the several six-round prospect shows still to go.

Results

IBF, WBA and WBC light heavyweight title fight: Artur Beterbiev vs. Anthony Yarde

WBA flyweight title fight: Artem Dalakian vs. David Jimenez

Light heavyweight: Karol Ituma vs. Ezequiel Osvaldo

Featherweight: Umar Khan vs. Sandeep Singh Bhatti

Cruiserweight: Tommy Fletcher vs. Darryl Sharp

Heavyweight: Moses Itauma vs Marcel Bode

Super welterweight: Khalid Ali RTD1 Ivica Gogosevic

Super featherweight: Charles Frankham 60-54. Joshua Ocampo

Welterweight: Sean Noakes TKO5 Santiago Garces

Super-featherweight: Masood Abdullah def. Lesther Lara 60-54 (ref’s score)

Welterweight: Joshua Frankham def. Joe Hardy 60-54 (referee’s score)

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With the UFC off for the week, dig into the best fights out there for the UFC make for each division with the new year underway.

With a week off from UFC action, I figured it was as good as time as any to pinpoint the contests the UFC needs to make in each division. I’ve done this before and was shocked at the amount of fights that ended up coming to pass. So, what the hell, lets do it again! As it was the last time, one fight for every division. It doesn’t have to be the most relevant contest, but I will try to make it as relevant to the title picture as possible.

It needs to be acknowledged there’s more to putting together fights than just picking out the names that appear to fit best. There’s things such as injury suspensions, getting both fighters to agree to clash… there’s no shortage of reasons why fights won’t happen. I’ve done the best I can to take those into account and make one fight per division that would appear to be a realistic option. Take a look at what I’ve come up with and feel free to disagree…

Heavyweight: From a fan’s perspective, it’s a bummer to see Francis Ngannou walk away from the UFC. I understand why and support his decision, but it’s still a bummer to know we could miss out on some of the most intriguing heavyweight contests as a result. However, with his exit, it does allow the title picture to advance. That said, there’s still a lot of politics to be played. I’d love to see Curtis Blaydes and Stipe Miocic battle it out for the #1 contender spot, but Miocic has proven he’s willing to sit on the sidelines if he isn’t fighting for the title. I see him waiting for Jon Jones and Ciryl Gane to resolve their business. So, is there another fight for Blaydes? You bet your ass there is. Sergei Pavlovich has been mowing down everyone in his way, owning five consecutive first round finishes. I can see Blaydes be willing to play the same game as Miocic. Hell, Blaydes has fought – and won – three times since Miocic lost the title, which is also the last time Miocic stepped in the cage. A hell of an argument can be made Blaydes is more deserving. Regardless, if Blaydes are Pavlovich are willing to throw down in short order, it would be hard to justify giving Miocic a title shot ahead of the winner of that fight. I don’t dislike Miocic, I see a potential opportunity for Blaydes and Pavlovich. Thus, Blaydes and Pavlovich is the best available fight.

Light Heavyweight: With a new champion atop the division, it’s wide open. There’s also a lot of uncertainty. There’s no solid timeframe for when Jiri Prochazka will be ready to fight again. Thus, we don’t know who Jamahal Hill makes his first defense against. If it isn’t Prochazka, Magomed Ankalaev appears most deserving. Unfortunately for him, he appears to be on the wrong side of Uncle Dana. The UFC President might look to go another route until Ankalaev regains his trust. Thus, perhaps Jan Blachowicz has next. Aleksander Rakic also hasn’t announced when he’ll be back in the cage following his own injuries. Rather than play a guessing game at the very top of the decision, I’d rather move down the division and look at more concrete possibilities. There are three fighters unscheduled that are all separated from the fighters already listed: Anthony Smith, Johnny Walker, and Volkan Oezdemir. What makes the most sense is Oezdemir and Smith, but they’ve already done the damn thing. Thus, even though I don’t want to pick anyone who just fought last week, I’ll say Smith vs. Walker is the way to go.

Middleweight: While the tip top of the division is unscheduled, there’s a degree of uncertainty with what’s going to happen there. Thus, I’d rather leave that untouched. The rematch between Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya has been scheduled. The remaining gentlemen near the top of the division would be better off waiting to see how the currently scheduled contests play out. That leaves me looking outside the top ten those immediately below the top five are booked up. I looked up and down for who was available and circled the potential contest that made the most sense. Nassourdine Imavov came up short in his attempt to break into the top of the division, indicating he’ll need a bit more seasoning. Brad Tavares was forced to pull out of his fight with Gregory Rodrigues, but I’d imagine he wants to pick up a paycheck soon enough. Tavares isn’t a gimme by any means, but he’s also not at the level of Sean Strickland, the one who recently turned Imavov away. In other words, he’s the perfect candidate to offer Imavov some extra seasoning while still providing a viable threat. Imavov vs. Tavares is a perfect middleweight scrap.

Welterweight: Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman are booked while Belal Muhammad and Colby Covington appear to be circling one another. I’m not going to touch either of those and I don’t want to book what appears to be that obvious. Khamzat Chimaev is the highest profile option outside of that, but there’s no guarantee he can make the weight anymore. Gilbert Burns and Jorge Masvidal were just barely booked. A good chunk of the fighters that are unscheduled in the rankings have already fought each other, but as I look at the available contests, there’s one that pops out as a fight that I’m shocked hasn’t come to fruition. It’s been scheduled, but Neil Magny and Vicente Luque has never happened. That seems like something that should be rectified before one or the other loses relevance in the division. Again, I hate circling a fighter who fought just last week – Magny losing to Burns – but it makes way too much sense for me to pass over it. Besides, they’re also both coming off losses. It’s hard to believe we’re going to see a better time to set them up.

Lightweight: I hate trying to figure out this division. It will be further complicated if Alexander Volkanovski takes the belt from Islam Makhachev as the Aussie claims he wants to defend both the featherweight and lightweight title. There’s a reason I don’t like champ-champ scenarios…. Regardless, Beneil Dariush has said he’s willing to fight anyone… and all those he should be fighting don’t seem willing to sign the dotted line to fight him. Hopefully, Charles Oliveira, Dustin Poirier, or Michael Chandler will agree to fight him, though I won’t predict which one. Many would say Arman Tsarukyan would fight him and I’d love to see that. However, both men deserve a crack at a big name. I’m not willing to pit them against one another. Thus, I have to look beyond them. Mateusz Gamrot is in need of getting back on track after losing to Dariush. He’s got enough name value that I see any fighter beneath him would love a crack at him. If I’m Gamrot, I’m looking for a fighter who will help me win over fans. Narrowing it down that way, the choice is clear: Drew Dober and Gamrot is absolute fire.

Featherweight: The last time I made a list like this, I called for Max Holloway and the Korean Zombie to throw down. That’s still an available fight to be made, but I’ll hold off on calling for it a second time. Not that I’m against it. I still want to see it. Ultimately, I just want to avoid repeating myself. My first thought was pitting Brian Ortega and Calvin Kattar. Both are coming off injury losses and have lost three of their last four overall. Unfortunately, I don’t know when they’ll be ready to fight. What I do know is both Giga Chikadze and Bryce Mitchell built up a lot of hype with long winning streaks – both capped with wins over Edson Barboza – before suffering hugely disappointing losses. I don’t see a fight that makes more sense for either fighter. Mitchell vs. Chikadze is a no-brainer.

Bantamweight: Just about every top fighter is booked. Aljamain Sterling is injured and the UFC appears to have Sean O’Malley penciled in to face him when he’s healthy, so I’m not going to speculate either of those two. In the official rankings, I don’t see any of the fighters who are unscheduled fighting one another. In fact, I anticipate things will have to play out a bit more before they find their next opponents. Thus, I have to drop out of the official rankings to find an unmade fight I would like to see made. Given the depth of 135, that’s not a miserable thing in the least. Scrolling through names, I came across Casey Kenney. The former flyweight hasn’t fought in almost 18 months, but was fighting opponents with numbers next to their names prior to his hiatus. Perhaps an opponent who provides a strong likelihood of him producing an extra $ 50K might entice him back. Davey Grant has secured Bonuses in four of his last five contests. It’s a winnable contest for both men. Perhaps more importantly, it appears to be a true barnburner. Kenney vs. Grant is pure dynamite.

Flyweight: While I don’t want to disparage what the quadrilogy between Brandon Moreno and Deiveson Figueiredo did for the division, it feels nice to know we’re about to get a fresh matchup for the flyweight title. It looks like the UFC is planning to have Alexandre Pantoja challenge the freshly crowned Moreno, a course of action I fully support. However, it’s still up in the air who might fall in line behind Pantonja. Kai Kara-France came up short in his bid for interim gold, so I don’t see him as a likely candidate. Manel Kape is already scheduled to fight Alex Perez, but Perez hasn’t won a fight against anyone currently on the roster. How much stock should be put into a win over Perez? There’s a very simple solution in my mind. Matheus Nicolau has won four consecutive fights since returning to the organization, all over opponents with numbers next to their names. Unfortunately for Nicolau, he’s not the most aesthetically pleasing fighter. On the flip side, Brandon Royval doesn’t know how to have a boring fight. Pit them together on the same card as Moreno-Pantoja with the winner guaranteed a crack at the winner. If Royval wins, the UFC will be perfectly happy to have someone with his recklessness challenge for gold. If he loses, he will likely have dragged a fun fight out of Nicolau. Nicolau vs. Royval makes too much sense to ignore.

Women’s Bantamweight: This division is a HUGE mess. The UFC had a fighter who had done enough to warrant a shot at Amanda Nunes’ title in Ketlen Vieira. Instead of setting that up and striking while the iron was hot, they opted to have Vieira fight one more time against the eternally scrappy Raquel Pennington. Now, Pennington, someone who lost an incredibly lopsided contest to Nunes several years ago, is the most deserving of a title fight. The UFC doesn’t want to see it; reports are they’re trying to set Pennington up against Irene Aldana. If that’s the case, it looks like we’re getting a trilogy between Nunes and Juliana Pena. Given how one-sided their second contest was, most would rather see Pena win a fight before getting a rematch. Nothing is official, but I’m going to assume that’s how things will play out. Vieira is available and I’d imagine she’d want to get back on track as soon as possible. After all, there’s only so many opponents Nunes can beat before it becomes Vieira’s turn… provided she gets back on track. There’s only one option available I can see that would make sense: Pannie Kianzad. Kianzad did come up short against Raquel Pennington 16 months ago, but that’s also the only blemish on her record in her last six contests. It isn’t the sexiest matchup, but it’s extremely logical, whether my earlier assumptions play out or not. Vieira vs. Kianzad needs to be booked.

Women’s Flyweight: There had been a lot of speculation about who had next with Valentina Shevchenko. Now that it’s been settled that Alexa Grasso was the winner of those sweepstakes, it makes it easier to settle up the rest of the division. Well, it would if the rest of the division wasn’t already booked up. Well, maybe not ALL the ranked fighters are booked, but there’s caveats with those who aren’t. Manon Fiorot is injured. Lauren Murphy could be looking at a lengthy injury suspension. Katlyn Chookagian has already fought both of those ladies. Tracy Cortez is also in the rankings, but it doesn’t make sense to pit her against any of those women. But are there women who would be interesting to pair against Cortez outside the rankings? Absolutely. In fact, there’s a strong argument Miranda Maverick is more deserving of a spot in the rankings than Cortez. There may be some health issues Cortez needs to clear up before the fight could be made, but it’s hard to find a fight for Cortez that makes more sense than Maverick.

Women’s Strawweight: This division is wide open, with no fighters in the top ten of the rankings booked to fight. That gives me a wide berth to figure out what makes the most sense to me. Rose Namajunas has a good claim to challenging Weili Zhang for the belt given she already has two wins over the champion. Unfortunately for Namajunas, she crapped the bed so badly when she lost her title to Carla Esparza, I don’t see Uncle Dana giving her that opportunity until she can win at least one fight in the interim. Fortunately, due to Namajunas fighting so many rematches, there are fresh opportunities abound. The one that stands out to me: Marina Rodriguez. Rodriguez has been a good soldier for the UFC, headlining several cards and pulling out a couple of wins in those opportunities. At 35, it’s easy to believe she could be sliding backwards sooner rather than later. If she’s going to get a truly high-profile opponent, it’s now or never. Throw in that Namajunas and Rodriguez are both coming off disappointing losses where they were notable favorites and it only makes that much more sense. Namajunas vs. Rodriguez helps establish the divisional hierarchy.

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Former UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo looks all set to start making the transition from MMA to boxing.

Former UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo looks like he’s going forward with a long-teased plan to jump over to boxing. Having retired from MMA in 2022, the Brazilian now appears to have a date and an opponent to make his debut in the ring.

Per Combate’s report, Aldo will take on Argentinian Emmanuel Zambrano in just a couple of weeks, on February 10. The fight will take place under Shooto’s banner and at the 139-pound division.

Zambrano (0-3) has three losses on his professional boxing record, two by decision and one knockout. His last outing took place in November 2020, when he lost via TKO to Alexis Nahuel Torres.

Aldo (31-8) retired from mixed martial arts following a unanimous decision loss to Merab Dvalishivili, in August 2022. During his career, the 35-year-old defended the UFC featherweight title seven times—including wins over some of his generations most notable names, like Frankie Edgar, Chad Mendes, Chan Sung Jung and Ricardo Lamas, among others.

Alongside his shift in pugilistic careers, the UFC announced during their latest PPV broadcast that Aldo would be the next fighter to be inducted into the company’s Hall of Fame. Hopefully the boxing ring treats him half as well as his MMA career did.

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It looks like the UFC’s April 8th PPV event just got a new main event and a new co-main.

The UFC’s April PPV card just got a shakeup. Previously rumored as the planned landing spot for a bantamweight title fight between Aljamain Sterling and Henry Cejudo, in a video broadcast over social media on Friday, January 27th, UFC president Dana White announced that the card would now be headlined by a middleweight title fight rematch between Alex Pereira and former champion Israel Adesanya. Alongside that bout, the event’s co-main will be a welterweight top contender’s bout between Gilbert Burns and Jorge Masvidal. No word yet on what that means for Sterling vs. Cejudo.

Adesanya and Pereira met for the third time in their careers just back in November. For the first time, however, they faced off under MMA rules, and with Adesanya’s middleweight title on the line. Pereira won the bout via stunning 5th round TKO stoppage, making him 3-0 against the ‘Last Stylebender.’

That victory brought Pereira up to 7-1 in his MMA career, and 4-0 in his brief run through the Octagon. The 35-year-old former kickboxing star re-started his MMA career just back in 2020, and made his UFC debut in November of 2021—making it just 12 months from his first UFC bout to winning his first UFC belt.

With five successful title defenses to his name heading into the Pereira bout, it only makes sense that Adesanya would get an immediate shot at reclaiming his crown. Much like Pereira, Adesanya made the move to MMA after a highlight-filled kickboxing career, winning the interim middleweight title in just his 6th UFC bout, and capturing the undisputed title a little more than 18 months after his Octagon debut.

Fresh off an easy-breezy first round submission win over Neil Magny, former welterweight title challenger Gilbert Burns seems to be finally getting his wish, for a high profile bout against one of welterweight’s bigger-name opponents. While he called for a bout with Colby Covington after his victory at UFC 283, ‘Durinho’ is now set to face off against Jorge Masvidal instead.

Masvidal and Burns had been linked to a potential UFC bout in 2022, but the fight never managed to materialize (likely in part due to Masvidal’s legal woes). ‘Gamebred’ is currently riding a 3-figth losing streak that includes back-to-back title shot losses to Kamaru Usman, and a 2022 decision loss to Covington. He has been out of action for most of the past year after Covington accused Masvidal of assaulting him outside a Miami restaurant, shortly following their UFC bout. Masvidal has plead not guilty to a count of felony battery and currently awaits trial while free on bail.

Alongside these bouts, White also announced a welterweight booking between Kevin Holland and Santiago Ponzinibbio, as well as previously reported bookings between Rob Font & Adrian Yanez, and Raul Rosas Jr. against Christian Rodriguez. No word yet on a location for the PPV event, but word on the street is that the card may be headed to New York.

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Bantamweight Felipe Colares narrates how he stopped a mugger from escaping in Rio de Janeiro.

Former UFC bantamweight Felipe Colares had the chance to help a person in need and grabbed it. As ‘Cabocao’ prepares for his first fight after being released from the promotion, he found himself in a not so unusual situation in Rio de Janeiro when he witnessed a mugging taking place in the street.

Though Colares first thought it was an argument between a young woman and her boyfriend, the fighter noticed the situation was odd when the man took the victim’s cellphone and rode away on a bycicle. Felipe tells Combate he decided to chase the man at that moment and used his Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills to hold him still until the police arrived at the scene.

“I was returning from training with my friends. We were just talking about how violence against women was increasing and I saw this guy kind of arguing with a young woman and then he yanked the cellphone from her hand. She sat on ground, crying. He got on his bycicle and rode away. I thought he had assaulted her and went there to file him under the Maria da Penha law (a Brazilian law for violence against women),”

“The woman said he had mugged her so I gave chase,” Felipe sad. “We swept him and I immobilized him with a kimura. I stayed on the ground with him for a while, holding him in a rear-naked choke. People want to hit him, but I warned them not to, because he was under my custody. If something happened to him, he could say it had been men. We waited for the police to arrive, she recognized him and got her phone back. She said he wasn’t her boyfriend, he had really mugged her.”

A member of a government program created to battle violence against women, Felipe said he used the techniques learned in the program to stop the robber from escaping. Once he knew the situation was safe, Colares then used his grappling to keep the man secured.

“I work in a government project called Empoderadas (Empowered), which fights any kind of violence against women. I learn prevention techniques and verbalization to avoid it. Erica Paes, a jiu-jitsu champion, is responsible for the program. It was all very useful so I could make this arrest. I used verbalization to see if he was armed and then I stepped in to immbolize him. This program has saved the lives of many women. Erica has been working to dimish the numbers of cases of violence against women.”

Colares (10-4) was released from the UFC on a two-fight skid, with losses to Chase Hooper and Chris Gutierrez. Now, he prepares to make his Ares FC 12, on February 17, in Paris, France, against Alioune Nahaye.

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Episode 221 discussion: Paradigm plans to pursue avenues to cut off Pacquiao’s earning ability, more disturbing details emerge about Power Slap, Rockhold plans to unretire, more

Welcome to The Level Change Podcast, our combat sports themed variety show hosted by Stephie Haynes and Victor Rodriguez. The show features the news of the week, fight card breakdowns and analysis, a roundup of regional promotions’ cards and fights; and whatever else we decide is important enough or entertaining enough to bring to your ears.

June M. Williams

EPISODE 221

• Paradigm Sports looking to cut off Pacquiao’s earning ability
  https://www.bloodyelbow.com/2023/1/26/23572078/boxing-legend-manny-pacquiao-set-for-march-trial-to-face-paradigm-sports-lawsuit-news
• Even more alarming details are popping up about Power Slap
  https://www.bloodyelbow.com/2023/1/25/23570049/neurologist-calls-dana-white-power-slap-recipe-disaster-ufc-brain-injury-tbi-mma-news
• Luke Rockhold now a free agent, plans to unretire
  https://www.bloodyelbow.com/2023/1/24/23568601/luke-rockhold-confirms-ufc-release-plans-to-unretire-and-f-k-some-people-up-mma-news
• Todd Duffee returning to MMA at 37
  https://www.bloodyelbow.com/2023/1/25/23571808/ufc-veteran-todd-duffee-returns-ksw-title-fight-phil-de-fries-heavyweight-champ-mma-news

WEEKLY PICKS REVIEW

Mookie: Walker, Andrade, Burns, Moreno, Teixeira (4-1)

Stephie: Walker, Andrade, Burns, Moreno, Teixeira (4-1)

Victor: Walker, Andrade, Burns, Figueiredo, Teixeira (3-2)

STANDINGS

Mookie: 6-4

Stephie: 6-4

Victor: 5-5

Follow our Twitter accounts: Stephie Haynes and Victor Rodriguez and our show account The Level Change Podcast. If you enjoy our variety of shows, please give us a shout out in the comments here on Bloody Elbow, and give us a “like”, share & subscribe on your BE Presents Podcast platform of choice: YouTube, SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Audible, iHeartRadio, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, OverCast, PocketCasts, Castro, Castbox, Player FM, Podcast Republic. Follow your favorite ‘Bloody Elbow Presents’ hosts on your preferred apps, such as: Downcast, PodCruncher, iCatcher!, Castaway 2, BeyondPod (Android), & more in the App Store! For previous episodes, check out our playlists on any of our BE Presents channels.

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The Power Slap ratings jumped in week 2, even as the broadcast lost 590,000 AEW viewers.

Dana White’s Power Slap League saw its viewership and ratings improve fairly dramatically in its second week on TBS. In part thanks to an even bigger lead in from AEW, from which the show still lost a majority of the pro-wrestling promotion’s viewers for their broadcast on Wednesday, January 25.

According to ShowBuzzDaily, AEW Wrestling had 1.003 million viewers in the 8 p.m. slot. AEW had a .31 rating in the 18-49 demographic and a .27 rating with 18-34-year-old viewers. With those numbers, AEW trailed only the two ESPN NBA games for the night’s overall cable ratings on Wednesday.

Power Slap finished in the No. 30 position this week with 413,000 viewers. The 10 p.m. broadcast had a .13 rating among 18-49-year-old viewers and .008 in the 18-34 demographic. Power Slap’s numbers were 590,000 viewers less than AEW’s.

Last week’s debut episode of Power Slap—which TBS delayed a week after White was caught on video slapping his wife, while on a family vacation in Mexico—was No. 45 in the top 50 cable telecasts for Wednesday, January 18, 2023. The debut episode pulled a reported 295,000 viewers and a 0.10 rating in the 18-49 demographic. The show finished at No. 50 for the night.

The January 18 AEW broadcast, which like this week, was No. 3 for the night behind ESPN’s NBA games, had 969,000 viewers and a .31 share in the 18-49 demographic. As for 18-34- year-old viewers, AEW had an 0.22 rating in that age bracket.

Power Slap finished second to BET’s Kingdom Business when considering cable shows with a 10 p.m. start time. Kingdom Business drew 639,000 viewers and a 0.14 rating in the 18-49 age range. The third highest rated 10 p.m. cable show on Wednesday was ID’s Homicide Hunter: American with 737,000 viewers and a rating of 0.11 for viewers between 18 and 49.

TBS initially scheduled Power Slap to debut on Wednesday, December 11. White addressed the delay of the show’s first episode at the UFC Vegas 67 post-fight press conference saying, “We pushed it back a week because I was supposed to come back (from vacation) and do this whole media tour, which obviously wasn’t going to happen when I got back.”

Ahead of Power Slap’s debut, White told potential viewers who were critical of the competitive slapping showcase that, “Nobody’s asking you to watch this! Oh, you’re disgusted by it? Watch The Voice.”

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