Alongside Steve Mazzagati, Mario Yamasaki garnered a reputation over the years as one of MMA’s most regularly criticized referees. Most notably in his long stint as one of the go-to officials for UFC fights. Dana White in particular hasn’t been shy about his dislike for Yasamaski, and some of the referee’s more questionable calls.
It’s been years since the UFC stopped using Yamasaki in their bouts, but the referee has only now decided to step forward and issue his response. Looking back on his career, the 58-year-old says his career wasn’t nearly so bad as some made it out to be.
“Let’s say I referee 800 fights, and I f–d up in four,” he said recently on Talkin’ MMA(quotes via MMA News). “The only thing that shows in my history are the four f–d up fights that I did, because those are the ones they keep pushing, pushing, pushing.”
The native of Sao Paulo, Brazil feels fighters, fans, and pundits focused too much on his mistakes and forgot about the many quality calls he made.
“What Dana said about me, ‘Oh, he’ll never step foot in the Octagon again, blah, blah, blah,’ those are the things that show most, not my 796 fights that I did right. They don’t care. They only care what you did wrong.
“I think Dana was a little too harsh on me because I’m not that bad. 20 years there and he always came to me, we’d talk a lot, and for him to just be a media guy, and destroy a guy… That wasn’t that bad.”
In 2021, Yamasaki spoke about retiring after more than two decades as a referee, to focus more on his construction company.
Jon Jones at UFC 247. | Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images
Check out all the fights announced over the past week in the UFC, Bellator and other promotions.
Fights on Tap is a weekly roundup of all the fights booked in the UFC, Bellator and other promotions.
Our first pay-per-view event is here! UFC 283 features a light heavyweight championship fight between Glover Teixeira and Jamahal Hill, as well as Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Brandon Moreno IV, the first-ever tetralogy in UFC history. Before we get to those fights, let’s take a look at what we have ahead of us on the upcoming schedule.
The UFC either announced or finalized 13 fights this week, and the return of a former champion is among us.
This past Saturday, we were stunned to see Francis Ngannou released from the UFC after he and the promotion failed to come to terms on a new contract. And after his release, Dana White and Co. scheduled a fight between Jon Jones and Ciryl Gane to determine a new UFC heavyweight champion. Yes, you read that correctly. Jon Jones has an official date to return to the Octagon.
Nearly three years after his unanimous decision win over Dominick Reyes at UFC 247, Jones is going up from light heavyweight to heavyweight. ‘Bones’ spent years on the sidelines bulking up, and his first assignment comes against a one-time title challenger in Gane. ‘Bon Gamin’ failed to unify titles against Ngannou at UFC 270, where he suffered his first loss as a professional. From there, the French fighter rebounded with a third-round TKO of Tai Tuivasa at UFC Paris.
UFC 283 — January 21
Gregory Rodrigues vs. Brunno Ferreira — middleweight First rep. by Guilherme Cruz of MMA Fighting
UFC Vegas 68 — February 4
Da Un Jung vs. Devin Clark — light heavyweight Jung vs. Clark was already confirmed, but shifted from UFC Seoul to UFC Vegas 68
UFC 284 — February 11
Zubaira Tukhugov vs. Elves Brenner — featherweight First rep. by Red Fury MMA Junior Tafa vs. Austen Lane — heavyweight First rep. by ESPN FightCenter
UFC Vegas 69 — February 18
Jordan Wright vs. Zac Pauga — light heavyweight First rep. by Nolan King of MMA Junkie Carlston Harris vs. Ramiz Brahimaj — welterweight
UFC 285 — March 4
Jon Jones vs. Ciryl Gane — heavyweight
UFC 286 — March 18
Gunnar Nelson vs. Daniel Rodriguez — welterweight Juliana Miller vs. Veronica Macedo — women’s flyweight First rep. by Miller on the Outside The Box podcast with Xaria Bloom Justin Gaethje vs. Rafael Fiziev — lightweight First rep. by Brett Okamoto of ESPN Leon Edwards vs. Kamaru Usman — welterweight
UFC San Antonio — March 25
Alex Caceres vs. Nate Landwehr — featherweight First rep. by BRKRZ Steven Peterson vs. Lucas Alexander — featherweight First rep. by Dylan Rush of Cageside Press
Announced Bellator fights:
Bellator 291 — February 25
Youcef Ouabbas vs. Steven Hill — middleweight Lucie Bertaud vs. Sabriye Sengül — women’s flyweight
Bellator 292 — March 10
Usman Nurmagomedov vs. Benson Henderson — lightweight First rep. by Brian Martin of OC Register Tofiq Musayev vs. Alexandr Shabliy — lightweight First rep. by Brian Martin of OC Register Josh Hill vs. Cass Bell — bantamweight Wladmir Gouvea vs. Sean Tucker — heavyweight Theo Haig vs. Adam Wamsley — middleweight Enrique Barzola vs. Erik Perez — bantamweight First rep. by Danny Segura and Nolan King of MMA Junkie
Bellator Paris — May 12
Gegard Mousasi vs. Fabian Edwards — middleweight Sidney Outlaw vs. Mansour Barnaoui — lightweight Saul Rogers vs. Davy Gallon — lightweight Thibault Gouti vs. Kane Mousah — lightweight
Announced KSW fights:
KSW 78 — January 21
Łukasz Sudolski vs. Kleber Silva — light heavyweight Łukasz Rajewski vs. Sahil Siraj — lightweight
Ciryl Gane at UFC Paris in September. | Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA/AFP via Getty Images
The former interim UFC heavyweight champion says Jones may be in for a rude awakening when they fight.
Ciryl Gane says he poses a greater threat to Jon Jones than Francis Ngannou.
The UFC announced that the former champion would return to the Octagon against Gane at UFC 285 after a nearly three-year hiatus. In his first fight, Jones will vie for the UFC heavyweight championship, which is now vacant after Francis Ngannou was released from his current contract.
Prior to his release, Ngannou was considered the greatest threat to Jones, as his size and power were causes for concern in a potential fight. But for Gane, he understands he would need more than those to go against Jones.
“I know I got a good footwork at first, I think I’m a little more well-rounded [than Ngannou],” said Gane at the UFC Vegas 67 post-fight press conference (video provided by MMA Fighting). “I look a little bit more like Jon Jones. Yes, when you have a big guy that just wants to kill you with one punch, it’s more easier for a guy well-rounded and smart like Jon Jones to to manage the situation.
“But me, I’m not like that,” continued Gane. “I also like to manage the situation, so it’s going to be good.”
As far as what type of fight he expects, Gane says it could be a healthy mix of striking and grappling. Though ‘Bon Gamin’ was outrgrappled by the ‘Predator’ at UFC 270, he is ready if ‘Bones’ decides to employ a similar strategy.
“I think he’s going to stay well-rounded,” said Gane. “I don’t think he’s going to prove something else. I think he just wants to win his fight against me, and I don’t know what is a good way to win against me. Yes, some people like to say to my wrestling game is not good because of the fight with Francis, but this is not the truth. I was not focused on just that. I’m well-rounded, too. I can imagine a fight where we’re going to stay on the feet and maybe we’re going to try some time to go down.”
UFC 285 goes down on Saturday, March 4, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Bloody Elbow presents its fight week coverage for the latest PPV (pay-per-view) event 2022 has to offer, UFC 283, which goes down on Saturday, January 21st when the UFC returns to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
We get two great title fights this weekend; in the main event, the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) is featuring a blockbuster Vacant UFC Light Heavyweight Title showdown, with a must-watch thriller that will see perennial fan favorite, No. 2 ranked Glover Teixeira (33-8), battle No. 7 ranked Jamahal Hill (11-1).
Meanwhile, in UFC 283’s PPV (pay-per-view) co-main event brings us yet another title bout, we get the massively popular, No. 1 ranked Deiveson Figueiredo (21-2) vs No. 2 ranked Brandon Moreno (20-6), making history with their fourth battle against one another.
As if that weren’t enough excitement for one night, the UFC is also showcasing a must see tilt between Welterweights Gilbert Burns and Neil Magny, and more!
The UFC 283 main PPV card of five bouts airs live on ESPN+ PPV with a start time of 10/7PM ETPT, this is preceded with five Featured Prelims on ABC/ESPN at 8/5PM ETPT, and the massive 15-bout event will be starting off with five Early Prelims on UFC FIghtPass at 6/3PM ETPT. Odds at DraftKings Sportsbook.
Mike Perry prepares to take on Tim Means at UFC 255. | Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Mike Perry suggests that it is time to move on from Dana White’s altercation with his wife.
Mike Perry believes Dana White has handled things well following his physical altercation with his wife and that it is time for the MMA community to move on from the incident.
White, the UFC president, was caught on video slapping his wife after the two got into a drunken altercation outside a Mexican nightclub on New Year’s Eve.
White has since apologized for the incident and his wife, Anne, said it was “out of character” for him and that the incident was a one-off.
White has faced tremendous public backlash for the incident, although some fighters have come to his defense. Perry, who used to compete in the UFC, acknowledges White was in the wrong but believes everyone makes mistakes and that it’s important to move forward.
“I saw a video of Dana White’s explanation, what a guy, man,” Perry said of White during a recent interview with MMA Fighting (h/t MMA News). “He definitely had no excuses, he said ‘Everyone who was talking about me, they’re probably right. I made a mistake.’ or whatever. How long has that guy been in the public eye? For so many years, for something like this to happen. Maybe he grabbed her wrist, she struck him, he struck back, alcohol involved, New Year’s, tough times. Man, people go through that. That happens to people…”
“I’m definitely not innocent in my life, but we have to move forward,” Perry continued. “You do a million good things, you do one bad thing, and everyone’s just on your case about it. They get the chance with someone’s as powerful as that, they get the chance to talk trash or put them out there as this evil, bad person. It could’ve been worse, it could’ve been better. What can you do? You go forward. Dana’s probably gonna donate to some charity this week…I can’t sit here and talk bad about the guy.”
White will face no professional punishment for this incident and will continue in his role as UFC president.
Jon Jones has opened up as a betting underdog to Ciryl Gane for their UFC 285 heavyweight title fight | Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images
Jon Jones has opened up as a betting underdog to Ciryl Gane for their UFC 285 heavyweight title fight.
Is this really happening? Is Jon Jones actually going to fight at heavyweight? Well, we won’t know for sure until we actually see it, but the UFC’s former light heavyweight king is scheduled to make his long-awaited heavyweight debut against the promotion’s former interim champion, Ciryl Gane. Oh, with Francis N’Gannou being released, this contest will be for the undisputed heavyweight title. Now let’s go take a gander at the betting odds.
Believe it or not, Jon Jones is listed as a betting underdog to Ciryl Gane. Jones’ moneyline is sitting around +110, and a successful $ 100 wager on the light heavyweight G.O.A.T. would bring in a profit of $ 110. As for Gane, he is clocking in as a -130 favorite, and a $ 100 gamble his way could potentially enjoy a total payout of $ 176.92.
Have we seen Jon Jones take plenty of L’s outside of the Octagon? Sure, but inside of it we’ve never actually seen Jones lose. Yes, he technically lost to Matt Hamill by disqualification in what was a B.S. call. Yes, a lot of fans thought Thiago Santos beat him. Yes, a lot of fans thought Dominick Reyes defeated him, too. Through all of that, Jones still found a way to pull through with perfection still intact.
The same can’t be said for Gane, who was out-wrestled by Francis N’Gannou in their title unification match back at UFC 270 last January. If Francis was able to get his grind on, then does that mean Jones will be able to out-grapple Gane, too? I mean maybe.
There’s a lot of unknowns surrounding Jones. We don’t know what he’ll look like as a heavyweight, and against a true big man. On top of that, he hasn’t competed since February of 2020. While Jon was on the sidelines getting bigger, Gane fought SIX-TIMES during that span.
Ring rust is an urban legend of the MMA world, but it’s honestly hard to see something of the sort as a legitimate factor that will effect Jones. GSP came back after three years and won the middleweight title, and Jones has proven himself to be on that level of greatness. Jon as an underdog to any human on Earth is probably the livest dog that you’ll ever find.
Check out the betting odds for Jon Jones vs. Ciryl Gane, courtesy of Sportsbetting.ag:
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UFC Fight Night Vegas 67: Sean Strickland Defeats Nassourdine Imavov via Unanimous Decision | Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images | Graphic via BloodyElbow.com
The real winners and losers from UFC Vegas 67
The first UFC card of 2023, UFC Vegas 67, is behind us. In the main event, Sean Strickland, who also headlined the final UFC fight card of 2022, bounced back from a split decision loss to Jared Cannonier to score a decision win over Nassourdine Imavov. Strickland stepped in on short notice to replace Kelvin Gastelum on the card. As a result, Strickland and Imavov competed at light heavyweight rather than middleweight.
In the evening’s co-main event, Dan Ige ended a three-fight losing skid by ending Damon Jackson’s four-fight winning streak incredibly violently.
Before Ige’s knockout win, former UFC women’s bantamweight title challenger Raquel Pennington extended her career-high winning streak to five victories in a row by defeating the higher-ranked Ketlen Vieira.
Of course, the big news of the night came at the post-fight press conference when UFC president Dana White announced the UFC had parted ways with its heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou. White also announced that former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones would face ex-interim heavyweight champ Ciryl Gane for the crown the promotion removed from Ngannou’s head before the promotion walked him out the door.
Read on for the winners and losers of UFC Vegas 67, which took place at UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Winners
Sean Strickland: It seems Sean Strickland learned a lesson from his split decision loss to Jared Cannonier. More importantly, he put the knowledge to work on Saturday. Strickland employed a jab-heavy approach, as expected, in his fight opposite Nassourdine Imavov, but he was more active, more accurate and he seemed to throw more hooks and overhands than he did in his loss to Cannonier. Strickland also pushed the pace and kept Imavov on his back foot for much of the five-round battle.
This was a good bounce-back win for Strickland, who was in danger of slipping out of the middleweight top 10 with a loss on Saturday.
Dan Ige: Dan Ige was No. 8 on the official UFC featherweight rankings heading into his UFC Vegas 29 main event fight against Chan Sung Jung in June 2021. Ige lost that fight by decision. He then dropped his next two outings in the same manner. When Ige entered the octagon at UFC Vegas 67, he was 1-4 dating back to July 2020 and had dropped to No. 13 in the promotion’s official 145-pound rankings.
Ige ended his losing skid in a violent manner, scoring a walk-off knockout win over Damon Jackson, who had won four-straight heading into Saturday night. Whatever confidence Ige lost after dropping three straight should be restored following his first win since he knocked out Gavin Tucker in March 2021.
50K IGE WITH THE WALK OFF #UFCVegas67 pic.twitter.com/46qPVQa1TY
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) January 15, 2023
Roman Kopylov: Roman Kopylov has turned things around. He opened his UFC career with two losses, but bounced back with a knockout win over Alessio Di Chirico in September and followed that with a TKO win over the favored Punahele Soriano at UFC Vegas 67.
Kopylov mentioned in his post-fight speech that his win on Saturday was the final fight on his UFC contract. I’m not sure how far the 31-year-old middleweight can go in the UFC, but he deserves a new deal after his two straight stoppage wins.
KOPYLOV WITH THE RELENTLESS FINISH AT #UFCVEGAS67 pic.twitter.com/GV1t3Cefff
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) January 15, 2023
Raquel Pennington: Raquel Pennington has been with the UFC since 2014. With her split decision win over Ketlen Vieira, the 34-year-old is now on a five-fight winning streak, which is the longest run of consecutive victories of her career, which began in 2012. Pennington, who fought for the bantamweight title in 2018 — losing to Amanda Nunes via TKO — entered UFC Vegas 67 as the No. 5 ranked fighter in the 135-pound division, while Vieira was No. 2.
Umar Nurmagomedov: Umar Nurmagomedov picked up the first knockout of his UFC run and second career KO when he blasted Raoni Barcelos in the first round with a left hook.
The UFC commentators said the promotion’s matchmakers have struggled to get Nurmagomedov matchups. He entered UFC Vegas 67 as the No. 11 ranked 135-pounder, Nurmagomedov needs to face a top-10 ranked opponent in his next outing.
UMAR SHOWED POWER TO END IT IN ROUND 1 #UFCVegas67 pic.twitter.com/XX7cBcICBI
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) January 15, 2023
Javid Basharat: Javid Basharat was just too good for Mateus Mendonca. Both fighters entered the bantamweight contest with undefeated records, but the 27-year-old Basharat’s overall skills were more developed and his fight IQ was higher than those of his 23-year-old opponent.
Basharat moved to 3-0 in the UFC and 14-0 overall with the win. Basharat is still getting ready for ranked bantamweight competition, but he deserves a fight against a skilled veteran foe who can put him in some dangerous spots.
Abdul Razak Alhassan: From the opening moments of his middleweight bout against Claudio Ribeiro, it was clear that Abdul Razak Alhassan was looking to land a monster right hand. He made valiant attempts during the first round but failed to connect. However, that changed early in the second stanza when he put Ribeiro down and out 28 seconds into the round.
Alhassan might have saved his job with his win, as he was 1-4 entering UFC Vegas 67.
Alhassan brought the POWER #UFCVegas67 pic.twitter.com/5O9DHREryU
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) January 14, 2023
Mateusz Rebecki: Mateusz Rebecki used a lot of energy in the first round against Nick Fiore and he paid for doing so for the rest of the fight. However, Rebecki, despite needing work on his cardio, had good takedowns and the ability to control the battle on the mat.
This was Rebecki’s UFC debut, so it’ll be interesting to see what adjustments and improvements he makes ahead of his next promotional appearance.
Allan Nascimento: Allan Nascimento showed good fight IQ by capitalizing on a front kick that stunned his opponent right to a takedown. From there, Nascimento picked up his first UFC finish with a rear-naked choke submission win over Carlos Hernández, to the approval of Charles Oliveira, who was in his corner for Nascimento, who is now on a two-fight winning streak in the UFC flyweight division.
Standing submission for Nascimento #UFCVegas67 pic.twitter.com/FmUf9jeRKL
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) January 14, 2023
Daniel Argueta: Daniel Argueta moved to 1-1 in the UFC with a win over Nick Aguirre, who made his UFC debut on Saturday. Argueta used serviceable striking to close distance on the feet, but he excelled on the mat. The 29-year-old displayed his grappling skills, situational awareness and a mix of ground strikes and submission attempts on his way to a dominant win.
Charles Johnson: Charles Johnson got the first UFC fight card of 2023 started by putting on a dominant performance. Johnson, who is now on a two-fight UFC winning streak, overwhelmed Jimmy Flick in this flyweight contest. The 32-year-old mixed up his techniques and targets well while switching stances smoothly. Johnson used kicks at distance and his boxing in close to hurt Flick and when the fight went to the mat, he wrapped things up with an onslaught of ground strikes that left Flick doing little more than covering up.
Charles Johnson starts off 2023 with a TKO #UFCVegas67 pic.twitter.com/piIRPAaps4
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) January 14, 2023
Losers
UFC: If the UFC wanted to bring in 2023 with a bang, the promotion failed in a big way with UFC Vegas 67. The prelims had the depth of a quickly evaporating puddle and the main card — even before the main event change — was not much deeper.
After a long break between events, UFC fans deserved better than a card that came across as little more than the promotion crossing out the first of the number of events it owes ESPN for 2023.
The UFC, primarily due to its relentless schedule, has a quality problem. Unfortunately, the promotion and its broadcast partner, ESPN, do not seem all that interested in correcting that problem. Saturday’s fight card was another example of the promotion showing content is king.
Sean Strickland: Sean Strickland claimed that the “UFC paid me a lot of f–king money to take this fight on short notice. I didn’t want it, but you paid me and I thank you… I’m a company guy, you pay me, I’ll fight Francis Ngannou.”
Strickland then turned around and said that old and retired fighters usually leave the sport with no money. He then encouraged fans to support “these old dogs that retire. It sucks teaching cardio kickboxing classes after a career in the UFC.”
I would posit it’s not the fans who need to support the fighters after they retire, at least not financially. The promotion that leaves them with no option but to take on employment as cardio kickboxing trainers to make ends meet after the UFC has squeezed everything it can from them should fill that role. In this case, that is the UFC.
Nassourdine Imavov: Nassourdine Imavov did not have a lot of time to prepare for Sean Strickland. However, anyone who has seen Strickland fight knows his style and what to expect from him inside the octagon. That Imavov’s team did not have him ready for Strickland’s approach is not a great sign for the 27-year-old.
With that being said, Imavov is young. There’s a great deal he can take away from the loss to Strickland. If he learns from the defeat and returns in his next outing improved in his fight IQ and cardio, Saturday’s setback will not be a total loss.
Raquel Pennington: Following her win over Ketlen Vieira, Raquel Pennington could have called for a title shot against Amanda Nunes. She didn’t. That felt like a mistake considering the run Pennington is on and the fact that Nunes is not booked for her next title defense at this time.
Ketlen Vieira: Ketlen Vieira’s lack of aggression hurt her in her fight opposite Raquel Pennington. Had she moved forward more, upped her output and not settled for being in the clinch against the fence, Vieira might have earned the nod from the jud
ges on Saturday.
Mateus Mendonca: The 23-year-old Mateus Mendonca made his UFC debut on Saturday. The Brazilian bantamweight was a game opponent for the victorious Javid Basharat, but he could not keep his unbeaten record intact at UFC Vegas 67. As Basharat said after his win, Mendonca is a tough customer and a fighter who could develop into someone to watch at 135.
Nick Fiore: If Nick Fiore, who had never been past the first round in his 6-0 pro-MMA career, had the cardio, he might have been able to capitalize on the fading cardio of his UFC Vegas 67 opponent, Mateusz Rebecki. He did not; because of that, he fell to 6-1.
Jimmy Flick: Jimmy Flick returned to the octagon for the first time since he defeated Cody Durden in December 2020. Things did not go well for Flick as Charles Johnson and his striking overwhelmed Flick.
I’d like to see the UFC give Flick another chance after being out of action for more than two years.
Dan Ige after finishing Damon Jackson at UFC Vegas 67. | Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images | Graphic: Bloodyelbow.com
Check out which fighters won performance bonuses from UFC Vegas 67: Imavov vs. Strickland.
UFC Vegas 67 was our first event of 2023! The light heavyweight headliner was okay, and the featherweight co-headliner gave us a highlight-reel finish.
The preliminary portion of the card saw Charles Johnson get the first UFC finish of 2023 with a first-round TKO of Jimmy Flick. ‘InnerG’ beat the ‘Brick’ from pillar to post before finishing him with some elbows and ground-and-pound. Dan Argueta gave Nick Aguirre his first loss as a professional. Using his wrestling, ’Determined’ grounded Aguirre over three rounds and earned a unanimous decision. That was his first UFC win! Allan Nascimento delivered a perfect performance against Carlos Hernandez. The Brazilian got Hernandez down, went for a choke and body lock, readjusted when his opponent stood up and sunk in the standing rear-naked. For us avid Mortal Kombat players, we call that a ‘Flawless Victory’. Mateusz Rębecki threw everything at Nick Fiore! ‘Rebeasti’ was on point with his striking and wrestling tonight, which saw him awarded a unanimous decision. He waited patiently for it, but Abdul Razak Alhassan got a KO of Claudio Ribeiro. ‘Judo Thunder’ showed off a new wrinkle in his game and slowed Ribeiro down with some clinch work in the first round. And then Alhassan went off in the second round, cracking Ribeiro with right hands over and over again until the referee stepped in. Javid Basharat won a unanimous decision over Mateus Mendonça. For his next fight, the ‘Snow Leopard’ challenged Chris Gutierrez, who sent Frankie Edgar into retirement with a brutal flying knee in November.
The main portion of the card began with Umar Nurmagomedov starching Raoni Barcelos. WHAT?! Nurmagomedov went for a knee up the middle and followed with a left hand that sent Barcelos to the canvas. Raquel Pennington extended her win streak to five with a split decision against Ketlen Vieira. Beating the No. 2 contender in the division could get ‘Rocky’ the second championship opportunity she has asked for, so perhaps a rematch between her and Amanda Nunes could happen this year. Roman Kopylov brutalized Punahele Soriano with body shots that led to a second-round TKO. A spinning back kick to the body from Kopylov was the beginning of the end for Soriano, who took a few more kicks until he was hunching over. Kopylov went to the head, swarmed ‘Puna’ and that was it. Dan Ige returned to the win column with a sick KO of Damon Jackson. ‘50K’ should definitely get a $ 50k bonus for that one.
Sean Strickland snapped a two-fight losing streak with a unanimous decision over Nassourdine Imavov, who he met on six days’ notice. ‘Tarzan’ kept the pressure on Imavov and outboxed him from start to finish, and swept the judges’ scorecards. He also made a little history, as he became the 16th fighter in UFC history to earn a win in three different weight classes (welterweight, middleweight and light heavyweight).
Performance of the Night: Allan Nascimento, Umar Nurmagomedov, Roman Kopylov and Dan Ige
Charles Johnson def. Jimmy Flick by TKO (punches) at 4:33 of Round 1
Allan Nascimento def. Carlos Hernandez by submission (standing rear-naked choke) at 3:16 of Round 1
Abdul Razak Alhassan def. Claudio Ribeiro by KO (punches) at 0:28 of Round 2
Umar Nurmagomedov def. Raoni Barcelos by knockout (punch) at 4:40 of Round 1
Roman Kopylov def. Punahele Soriano by TKO (body kicks and punches) at 3:19 of Round 2
Dan Ige def. Damon Jackson by KO (punch) at 4:13 of Round 2
Fight of the Night: No FOTN
Dan Argueta def. Nick Aguirre by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
Mateusz Rębecki def. Nick Fiore by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
A T-Mobile Arena employee is probably in trouble, after posting a banner and accidentally leaking a Jon Jones vs Ciryl Gane announcement. The graphic outside the Las Vegas arena read that the bout will be for the “world heavyweight championship” and will happen at UFC 285 on March 4.
Jon Jones vs Ciryl Gane, #UFC285, pour le titre heavyweight it’s on pic.twitter.com/GLTFdhFA8Q
— La Sueur (@LaSueur_off) January 14, 2023
Soon after the photo made the rounds on social media, MMA Fighting’s Steven Marrocco reported that the announcement was premature and the banner has been taken down.
I’ve been told the Gane vs. Jones T-Mobile graphic has been taken down, was a behind-the-scenes mistake. Fight not done deal.
— Steven Marrocco (@MMAFightingSM) January 14, 2023
Although the leak was premature, the bout appears to really be in the works, with Jones himself confirming Gane is next and Ariel Helwani reporting that the bout could be announced very soon.
“This is a very real thing,” Helwani reported. “Not quite 100%, but could be announced as early as tonight, I’m told.”
With Francis Ngannou still not agreeing to terms and re-signing with the UFC, the promotion reportedly has plans to strip him of his heavyweight title once everything is made official.
“If they make this fight on March 4th, it will be for the vacant title. On the table right now is to strip Francis Ngannou of the belt, and make that fight for the vacant title,” Helwani noted. “Again, not 100% just yet, but moving in the right direction.”
Jones, now 35, hasn’t fought in three years, and has had contract (and legal) issues of his own since then. The former light heavyweight champion has been teasing a heavyweight move for over a decade now, but will this really be the time it actually happens?
Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev are seen in attendance at UFC 272. | Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Chael Sonnen considers the possibility of an early retirement for Islam Makhachev.
Former UFC fighter turned MMA analyst Chael Sonnen thinks Islam Makhachev will struggle without Khabib Nurmagomedov in his corner.
As a long-time training partner and close friend, it was expected that Nurmagomedov would be in Makhachev’s corner for his first lightweight title defense against Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 284. But that is no longer the case after Khabib announced last week that he has quit MMA coaching to spend more time with his family.
Without his mentor and coach in his corner in future bouts, Sonnen questions whether Makhachev will consider an early retirement, similar to how Nurmagomedov did after his last fight.
“I cannot realistically imagine a scenario where Islam Makhachev, in is career, goes into a bigger match,” Sonnen, a former three-time UFC title challenger, said on his YouTube channel (h/t Harvey Leonard). “These matches at this level, you’re talking about a game of inches. Who got more sleep the night before? They’re this close. Who warmed up appropriately? This feels to me like one heck of a matzah ball that just got sat down, that your trainer, mentor, and coach is not going to be training, mentoring, or coaching you. It feels like a big deal.”
“The way that Khabib dealt with that (absence of Abdulmanap). I have an obligation, I have already committed to something. I’m gonna see that through, and as soon as I do, I’m done.’ Is that how Islam Makhachev feels? Has Islam got an obligation, he’s gonna go out there and see it through, and when that match is over… It’s big speculation by me. But I’m asking the question.”
Khabib previously stated that Makhachev needs at least five title defenses before he retires, but without Nurmagomedov’s guidance and support in his corner, it will be interesting to see if Makhachev reconsiders his future in the sport.
UFC 284: Makhachev vs. Volkanovski will take place on Feb. 12 at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia.
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