Category Archives: Bloodyelbow.com

Details of Dana White’s slapping incident will likely be kept under wraps thanks to Mexico’s privacy laws.

The full details of the New Year’s slapping incident between Dana White and his wife may never become public record. According to a report by ESPN, it’s all thanks to Mexico’s strict privacy laws regarding domestic violence cases.

A spokesperson from the Cabo San Lucas police department got in touch with the outlet, stating that under Mexican law, such cases are classified as “very private.” Investigations will only commence once the victim comes forward to file an assault report, according to political science professor Céline González.

“The onus to bring evidence is always on the victim. It’s her job to report, and in Mexico, that process isn’t easy,” González said.

White was seen on video getting slapped by his wife then responding with a slap of his own. The incident happened during a New Year’s eve celebration in Cabo, which immediately went viral.

The couple has since released a statement, claimed it was the first time for them to be involved in such an altercation. For his part, White has discouraged anyone from defending his actions.

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Can KSI keep his Misfit Boxing crown?

The influencers are at it again. This time they’re at London’s Wembley Arena with a card headlined by KSI, who is arguably responsible for this current wave of celebrity boxing, who will be taking on gaming rival FaZe Temperrr.

KSI was supposed to be fighting wannabe influencer/fighter Dillon Danis. However, that fell through when Danis announced he was withdrawing from the contest. The event is being promoted by KSI’s Misfit Boxing outfit and it’s titled MF & DAZN: X-Series 004. KSI will have his Misfit Boxing cruiserweight title on the line for this one.

It will air exclusively live on DAZN pay-per-view for $ 36.99. The event starts at 2 p.m. ET and the main event ringwalks are expected for around 5 p.m. ET.

Bloody Elbow is your place for the round-by-round scoring, analysis and highlights of tonight’s main event. So hang out (and chat about how awful this all is in the comments, if you please).

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Dillon Danis’ status in Bellator is “to be determined”.

Bellator CEO Scott Coker isn’t sure Dillon Danis is cut out for a career in MMA.

The former BJJ coach and teammate of Conor McGregor has fought just twice since his professional MMA debut in 2018, submitting Kyle Walker and Max Humprehy in back-to-back fights at Bellator 198 and Bellator 222.

Danis was scheduled to return to competition this Saturday in a boxing match with YouTuber KSI, but he withdrew from the matchup for undisclosed reasons.

With Danis not having fought since 2019, his future in combat sports remains uncertain. Bellator head Coker is willing to honor his current contract, but questions Danis’ commitment to the sport, stating his status within the organization is “TBD.”

“We offered him to fight in London on the show coming up, and I guess [his team] accepted [a fight with KSI], and they made a deal and we basically said, ‘OK,’” Coker told Ariel Helwani during a recent appearance on The MMA Hour (h/t Alexander K. Lee). “So when this thing fell apart, I was really surprised.

“He’s reached out to me and said, ‘Hey, I want to fight.’ So we’re going to try and get him in the rotation, but it’s been a long time. It’s been a long time since he fought, so I hope he’s been training and I hope he’s been doing his thing, but at the end of the day it’s really going to be up to him and how bad he wants to fight and does he really want to compete at this level. It’s going to be something that only he can answer.”

“We have a contract with the guy, and we’re going to honor the contract,” Coker added. “But like I said, it’s going to be ‘Do you want to really fight?’ That’s really the question here, to be honest. That’s the question.

“If you want to fight, come back in here, not that you start from ground zero, but you’re going to be in some tough competition. Test yourself and then let’s see what happens.”

As an accomplished Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt with multiple world titles to his name, it would be a shame to see Danis waste his talents outside of MMA. But at just 29 years old and with only two fights under his belt, he still has time to make a comeback and potentially leave a lasting impact on the sport.

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See what happened on the scales ahead of the UFC’s 2023 curtain raiser.

The UFC is back in our lives with an event that has ESPN+ written all over it. UFC Vegas 67 was supposed to feature Kelvin Gastelum vs. Nassourdine Imavov in the main event. However, Gastelum pulled out a few days ago after his teeth were knocked out in the gym.

Sean Strickland has stepped in, where he will hope to be probably the only fighter to headline the last card of the year and the first card of the following year. The rest of the fight card is not exactly filled with household names. Though, Javid Basharat might be something special down the line.

The card has been overshadowed mightily by what went on in Cabo. It’s there that cameras caught UFC President Dana White slapping his wife across the face. ESPN and Endevaour would like us all to forget about that now, but let’s not (after all, that’s White’s real punishment, isn’t it?)

Fighters looking to impress on Saturday will need to hit the scales on Friday morning and here we will see who went overboard on their cheat days over the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.

You can watch the weigh-ins in video below, provided by Ag. Fight. It goes live at 12 p.m. ET.

Full results:

Main card (7 p.m ET on ESPN+)

Light heavyweight: Sean Strickland (204) vs. Nassourdine Imavov (194)

Featherweight: Dan Ige (145.5) vs. Damon Jackson (145.5)

Middleweight: Punahele Soriano (185.5) vs. Roman Kopylov (185)

Bantamweight: Ketlen Vieira (136) vs. Raquel Pennington (135.5)

Bantamweight: Umar Nurmagomedov (135) vs. Raoni Barcelos (135)

Prelim card (4 p.m ET on ESPN+)

Middleweight: Abdul Razak Alhassan (185.5) vs. Claudio Ribeiro (183)

Lightweight: Mateusz Rebecki (155.5) vs. Nick Fiore (155)

Bantamweight: Mateus Mendonca (134.5) vs. Javid Basharat (136)

Flyweight: Allan Nascimento (125.5) vs. Carlos Hernandez (125)

Featherweight: Daniel Argueta vs. Nick Aguirre (145.5)

Flyweight: Jimmy Flick (126) vs. Charles Johnson

Flyweight: Priscilla Cachoeira (126) vs. Sijara Eubanks *

*Cachoeira vs. Eubanks has been caneled due to ‘weight management’ issues on the part of Eubanks (per John Morgan).

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In part two of this series, Bloody Elbow’s Managing Editor, Anton Tabuena faces off against his Thai opponent.

This is a follow up to From Writing to Fighting: Thailand, Part 1

Music is blasting, and I hear some cheers as I make my walk through the crowd.

With my team around me, I kneel and bow down as I reach the steps of the famed Bangla Stadium ring. I’ve always wanted to fight Muay Thai in Thailand, and I’m taking a moment to really soak this all in.

I head up the stairs, and my coach, Topnoi, is already holding down the ropes for me.

I touch the top rope with both arms out wide, then bow into a prayer pose. I slide my gloves back out, then back into a prayer pose again. I do this three times—as Thai tradition typically dictates—before jumping over the top rope and finally entering the ring.

I take the center, look at the judges and officials, and slowly bow towards each of the four sides of the ring.

As my brother removes my kimono, I hear the ring announcer’s distinct voice.

In the red corner, from Bangtao Muay Thai and MMA, Anton!

A small group of musicians start playing traditional Muay Thai music from the bleachers, signaling the start of our Wai Kru.

My opponent and I both slowly circle the ropes as we seal the edges of the ring. I take my time, bowing and tapping on each corner post before putting my fist up towards the crowd.

I walk closer to the middle of the ring, ever so slowly circling the area three times, while shaking my arms and trying to loosen up. I kneel at the very center. I’ve lost sight of my opponent, but if we’re both going to do this now, I want to take the best spot.

Random gamesmanship, I guess.

Sophie Reyes

Left hand down. Right hand down. Bow. Right hand up. Left hand up. Lean back up.

Two more times.

I want to make sure I give respect to Thailand’s traditions, so I’ve practiced this all a few days ago.

Left knee up. Lunge forward. Bounce the back leg. Lunge back down.

One more time on the other side.

I slowly stand, lifting and turning my right knee outwards—the same motion as checking a kick, but a lot slower and more deliberate. I do the same on my left leg. I repeat this with each step going closer towards my corner as the ritual nears its end.

I didn’t get to warm up, but at least I’m getting a decent stretch.

I look over to the blue corner. I’ve been so focused on doing my own thing, but it seems like my opponent ended his Wai Kru a lot earlier. He’s been waiting on me again.

Unintentional gamesmanship, I guess.

Sophie Reyes

The referee calls us both to the center to give final instructions.

We’re face to face, up close for the first time. I calmly look into his eyes. I don’t care at all about any intimidation tactics, but I’m trying to get a read on his demeanor and use this opportunity to properly size him up.

My brother was right. We really are roughly the same height, and he seems to have a wider frame. This will probably be my first fight without a reach advantage, but it doesn’t really matter now.

I just have to be better, period.

My opponent offers to touch gloves. I oblige.

We walk back to our corners one last time.

“Hands together and close your eyes,” Kru Beer gives a final prayer, then removes the Monkol on my head.

He gives me a sip of water, my mouthpiece, and some final advice.

“Just stay relaxed, find your timing,” he tells me.

“Get respect, then find your flow state,” Paolo says.

“Be first,” Topnoi tells me.

It’s all abbreviated reminders of what we long discussed in training. We want to find a clean shot early, which could allow me to dictate the pace and get him biting on my feints more.

I enjoy setting traps, but I won’t be able to flow and be tricky unless I get that respect.

I rotate and stretch my arms one last time.

The bell rings, and we’re off.

I extend my arm and offer to touch gloves. He reaches out and taps it.

“Use this round to warm up,” I hear my brother say.

My opponent immediately fires a right head kick, which I dodge easily by leaning back. I smirk at him.

He aggressively throws a push kick. I parry it with my left and crack him with a right hook to the body.

That’ll make you hesitate to come in like that.

Nope. He just throws a right hand with all his weight, so I slip to the side and throw two counters.

He still doesn’t take a step back. He throws an even wilder right hand. I see it coming and try to roll with the punch, but it still lands. My back is on the ropes, and he just slings a flurry of punches!

I block most of them, but I feel a left hook connect on me clean. I pivot and crack him with a big right straight. I see sweat flying off his head.

Surely that shot will make him pause at least.

Nope. He’s right back to throwing flurries, trying to knock me out with each shot. I slip, stiff arm, and side step, exploding out of that corner with more urgency. He immediately presses forward and doesn’t let up.

Push kick, more bombs.

What the hell? I thought Thais normally start slow.

I clinch him up to try and slow his frantic pace, but I remain defensive from here. I’m observing what he wants to do, and how good he is on the inside. I really don’t want to get cut from elbows or concede points from throws.

The referee separates us, and my legs suddenly feel heavy, like I’m walking in sand and dragging around ankle weights. It’s the same feeling as the time I fought without warming up.

It’s fine. You’ve been here before.

“Elbows from there!” I hear my corner yell. I nod, but I’m still trying to observe his clinch game.

As we reset, I immediately fake a punch and crack him with a leg kick. It lands flush, and it turns his body.

That must’ve hurt.

He lands a punch during another flurry and I clinch up again. He lands a knee to my side, but I reverse and turn him to the ropes until the referee breaks us up.

No sweep or elbow attempts again.

Sophie Reyes

I use the same setup. Fake right hand, then a hard low kick. He reacts the same way, so I pivot and slip out to dodge his right hand.

I tie him up. Before he can react, I crack him with a solid elbow that slams his head back.

He still just immediately charges forward, and I’m starting to get annoyed.

What will it take to get this guy to slow down?

As he charges in, I counter with a body shot.

If your chin is this strong, maybe you’re more vulnerable elsewhere.

We clinch again, and we each land a knee before we’re broken up.

I know he’s going to rush forward, so I throw a front kick to the body to stop his forward motion and follow up with a low kick. He still walks forward, so I crack him again with another leg kick that turns his body.

More of the same after, fake jab, hard leg kick. He throws a body kick and I catch and counter with two shots. That right hand sends his sweat flying again.

Are you still not going to stop?!

“Topic!” I hear my brother yell. That’s code Paolo and I have for a specific sweep we like from Muay Thai star Ognjen Topic.

I land a right hand then try to kick out his lead leg just as he steps forward. The move is perfect for ultra aggressive opponents like this, but it doesn’t quite land properly.

I set up another leg kick, then land an elbow as he clinches. The bell rings to end the first round.

He never stopped moving forward. This is really pissing me off.

Sophie Reyes

Topnoi takes my mouthpiece and gives me a sip of water the moment I get to the corner.

“You see everything he’s doing, right? So why are you inside brawling?!” Paolo says. He clearly isn’t happy, and he knows I’m fighting out of character.

Topnoi asks me to take three long deep breaths. He then blows on my right ear. He does the same on my left.

Is he making sure all my airways are clear? I don’t really feel tired, but that was completely new to me.

“Fight hard and show me heart, okay?” With his tone, it’s clear Topnoi is trying to pump me up, before proceeding with technical advice. He asks me to throw more elbows.

“Hands up, watch, and counter hard!”

Topnoi makes me do three more deep breaths, before stretching both of my legs.

“He’s just trying to brawl. You don’t need to stay in there,” Paolo says. “There’s so many openings if you just watch him!”

The bell rings to start round two, and we meet in the center.

I start by feinting with a weak inside leg kick to draw out a reaction. As I see him start to move in, I counter with a big body shot. I put my weight on it and slam my fist on his midsection. We both land, but I know mine was far cleaner.

I see him grimace and he drops to the floor.

He quickly gets back up, and the referee motions us to continue.

Shouldn’t you count that as a knockdown?

It doesn’t matter. He’s tough, but I now know he’s human.

Sophie Reyes

I feint again and see a brief sign of hesitation for the first time. I throw a hard leg kick that twists his body. He still isn’t in a position to defend, so I quickly double up with another leg kick. Another.

The third hard shot to his leg finally forces him to move, and he just rushes in with another flurry. One of them hits me in the face, but I smile after seeing some frustration as I circle out of danger. He’s still wildly chasing after me, so I stop and meet him with a straight right hand.

I clinch and crack him with a right elbow. I adjust my arms to get a full Thai plum, turn him to the ropes and land a knee to his side.

After what I’ve seen, I’m done being defensive in the clinch.

I see a straight right hand coming so I dip to the side and crack him to the body.

I clinch and try to toss him down to score points, but the ropes catch him. I throw a punch to the body and an elbow to the head.

He grabs on with all his might to prevent another elbow. It’s annoying that he’s just waiting for the referee to save him. I’m not in a position to strike, so I just shove my forearm to his neck and push his head backwards over the ropes. I keep him in this uncomfortable position until the referee gives him the reset he wanted.

That was petty, but if he wants an ugly fight, I’ll give it to him.

I immediately push forward after the restart, and throw a big superman punch.

It lands flush.

Sweat flies off as it turns his head, and I hear the crowd scream.

I can normally block everything out apart from my cornermen, but it’s my first time hearing cheers this loud. I catch myself mentally “taking pictures” and enjoying my work, missing a split second chance to follow up with a combination.

Instead, I just land in a clinch and get a Thai plum. I throw a knee to his head. Another. I shrug him off balance, turn him to the corner, then elbow his face hard.

Sophie Reyes

I land a jab, then I see him charging forward, so I kick out his lead leg before he can put weight on it. It connects and he awkwardly drops to the mat.

TOPIC!!

I’m ecstatic after finally timing that sweep perfectly.

He stands back up and fires off another body kick. Instead of catching or blocking, I just take it and throw a heavy shot at the same time. I land flush on his chin, and I finally see him grimace and react differently.

After another short shot to the chin, I turn him to the corner. I swing and connect with a hard elbow. Another. And another!

These big shots are hurting him! I need to land more.

Sophie Reyes

I fire a front kick to the body, land in a lefty southpaw stance, then hit him with a lead right hook.

He throws a wild punch, desperately looking to answer back big, but I slip out underneath and let him barrel through the ropes.

He comes forward again, so I land another hard front kick to the body, looking to deplete his gas tank. I miss with a big right hand and we end up in a clinch. I explode on another knee to his body, and the bell rings.

The round is over, and I’m irked at how tough this guy is.

As I’m walking to my corner, my body starts feeling weary.

I’m only just realizing now how exhausting it is to keep throwing all these big shots. I remember Muay Thai judging can include fighters’ demeanors though, so I put on my best poker face, and raise my fist to play to the crowd.

“How are you feeling? Are you tired?” Paolo asks.

“Yup,” I nod back.

I see his face change. I guess that wasn’t the answer he wanted to hear.

Coaches Piak and Topnoi both start massaging my arms and neck. They pour ice water on my head. Topnoi blows on my ears again, the same way as earlier.

Kru Beer and Paolo are giving technical instructions, but I’m still just trying to catch my breath and I’m not sure if I’ll remember them all. I’m staring blankly outside the ring and towards the crowd for a second, when I feel a light slap on my cheek.

I didn’t even realize I was starting to space out, but Topnoi got me fully focused again.

Sophie Reyes

“Deep breath!” he says firmly.

I inhale deep, exhale hard.

“Again!” Topnoi yells.

Inhale.

Exhale.

“Again!!”

“Do you have power?” he asks me.

I nod.

“Do you have power?!” he asks again, not quite satisfied with my response.

“Yes!”

Damn, that was good. I’m actually getting fired up again now.

“Just be careful of the first thirty seconds,” Paolo gives a final warning as the referee wipes down my face and gloves. “He’ll surely come out desperate to finish.”

I nod and the bell rings to start the third round.

My opponent immediately starts with a body kick. I catch it and look to counter, but he beats me to the punch and lands clean on my face. I try to clinch and answer back with a knee, but instead he lands a short right hand.

Sophie Reyes

I throw a punch to his body hoping to slow him down, but he just tries to bully me inside. He throws a flurry of knees. One. Two. Three. They’re not very hard shots, but it’s still connecting to my side.

Four. Five. Six.

That last knee landed low. I’m furious.

Seven.

I crack him with a short shot to the chin. It lands hard, but I immediately clinch up to slow him down and take a breath.

I check a kick then land a right hand. He’s firing back with more punches, trying to force this into a slugfest. We clinch up and he’s back to throwing knees. One of them lands low again

This time the referee sees it and warns him for the low blow.

I’m fine. That metal cup held up, but f–k, this fight is getting so ugly.

Sophie Reyes

As soon as the referee signals to fight, he immediately rushes forward again. I step back twice and fire an inside leg kick. I know he’ll just keep pressing on, so I meet him with a crushing elbow.

His forward momentum only increases the impact, and I hear a thud as my elbow slams on his temple. His demeanor completely changes.

I turn him to the ropes and throw another elbow. Another. Instead of bullishly pressing ahead, I see him turn away a little for the first time in this fight.

My eyes light up as I see him vulnerable. I throw another hard elbow.

I hear my corner banging on the apron, screaming at me to get after him. But he ties me up, holding on to get the referee to save him.

Sophie Reyes

I walk to the center of the ring as the referee resets us. He’s still hurt! I see him gingerly walking forward, and I go for the same combo that’s been landing.

Front kick to the midsection makes him wince and drop his hands.

Right hand to the jaw lands flush.

He slowly drops to the mat.

The referee jumps down with him, trying to catch his head and brace it from impact.

Is it really over?

I slowly walk away as I see the referee waving the fight off.

I know I just won, but I’m angry with myself.

In the second it takes to walk away from my fallen opponent, several thoughts are already flooding my head.

I could’ve done so much better.

As I’m walking away, clouded in disappointment, I feel the referee suddenly pulling me back to the center of the ring.

He raises my hand. The audience cheers.

Wait, what? Why?

Could that have actually been an entertaining fight?

I’m still dumbfounded by the crowd’s reaction, but I raise my arms to acknowledge them and walk towards my corner.

My confusion mounts as I see my coaches, my friends and my girlfriend all beaming at me looking so proud and happy. Paolo goes up the ring and meets me with a high five and a light hug.

It’s at this moment where it all dawns on me.

You f–king idiot!

I catch myself, realizing this is just my usual emotional post-fight outburst. This has happened in each of my fights, regardless of outcome. I’m still overly critical of every single thing that went wrong. I still forget everything I did right.

Enough with your tantrum! Just appreciate what you achieved while you’re still here.

I get out of my head and snap back to reality, realizing that my opponent is still down. I head over to check on him.

I bow to each of his coaches, thanking them for the fight. They politely acknowledge me, before immediately going back to attending to my opponent.

As he’s slowly helped back to his feet, the crowd starts clapping.

I walk back to my corner and exit the ring to hug my coaches.

So many thoughts and emotions are coursing through, but I have to try and shelve all of that for later. Alex is already up next.

“You can’t stay ringside like that,” one of the organizers suddenly tells me.

I hate that I can’t be in Alex’s corner, but I didn’t even think about dress code or optics while I’m still shirtless and sweating all over the place.

By the time I tidy up and return, Alex is already spamming spinning backfists to the delight of the crowd. He’s clearly winning, and I guess he doesn’t need any of my help with the Bantao pit crew of violence around.

Soon enough, they announce a unanimous decision win. I’m so happy for him, knowing how hard we’ve worked for this moment.

2-0. We really pulled it off.

Sophie Reyes

“Are those your friends?” My girlfriend asks, pointing to the top row of people watching the fights.

I look over, and they’re all waving at me.

I awkwardly wave back, before whispering, “I have no idea who they are.”

“That whole row was cheering hard and screaming your name the entire time,” she tells me. “I assumed you trained with them or something.”

They’re still waving me over, so I make my way up the bleachers to their top row. They all congratulate me and take a few photos, before one of them asks, “do you speak Filipino?”

“Oo naman!” I respond back in affirmation. They laugh and offer me high fives, before revealing that they’re all from a nearby province back home.

“We didn’t plan on watching Muay Thai fights, until we saw you on the poster,” he says, explaining that the Philippine flag was the clincher. “We thought it’d be fun to root for a countryman, and I’m glad we ended up attending.”

I honestly feel honored and touched to randomly find strong Filipino support all the way in Thailand. But I don’t exactly know how to say that, so I just make awkward jokes about how they wasted money on me.

“Sayang pera,” I tell them in Filipino, and laugh. “I could’ve ruined your trip.”

I thank them for coming out, and force my introverted self to socialize and continue with a little more small talk.

I buy a few beers and sodas to celebrate with the Bangtao Muay Thai crew, as we all decide to sit in the audience and watch the remaining fights together.

“Nice walk-off KO!” Alex says as I hand him a beer.

“I was just mad at myself. I wasn’t trying to look cool,” I say with a laugh.

“I wanted to land big to get respect, then I weirdly just wanted to keep landing big to hurt him,” I tell them. “I feel like I threw technique out the window.”

“That happens,” Topnoi responds. “First 10 fights, always like that. 20, still there but lesser. 30, 40, even less.”

Damn. Spoken like a guy with over a hundred fights.

“The most important thing is you trained hard and stepped in there, you understand? This win, everything right here, this is something you won’t ever forget,” Topnoi says.

He’s right.

I raise my beer and thank Topnoi and all the coaches for the sage advice.

“This is pretty much the best case scenario, but I can’t even walk straight,” I say with a laugh as I’m limping back to the hotel. There’s a gash on my shin, but it’s the muscles around it that feel a lot worse.

Damn, this is all just from kicking without shin guards.

I hear a motorcycle approaching, and realize it’s actually the tattooed tuk tuk guy from earlier. I didn’t think we’d run into him again, but I wave as he passes by.

It takes him a second, but as soon as he recognizes us, he slams on the brakes hard. I notice his passenger looking confused through all this.

He looks back and excitedly yells, “How was the fight??”

“He won! Knockout!” my girlfriend shouts back.

He suddenly makes a U-turn towards us, then gestures to his passenger to walk the rest of the way.

Shit. Sorry, bro.

His eyes light up as they show him short clips of the fight. Watching the actual video makes me see things more objectively as well.

It really wasn’t as bad as I thought.

“Oh my god,” he reacts to the finish. “They were worried, but I knew you could do it!!”

I’m going to miss all the nice people on this island.

“Did you know I was secretly hoping you’d pull out of the fight?” my girlfriend reveals after seeing me wince with each step.

“What?” I blurt out and laugh.

“I was never really going to get in the way of your dream though,” she says. “At least you’re okay, and this is all done now.”

She looks me in the eyes after not hearing a response.

“Wait. This is all done now, right?”

Previous ‘From Writing to Fighting’ editions:

[ Opening Round | Second Round ]

[ Brothers in Arms | Millennial Medals ]

[ Coaching a Colleague | Preparing for Pressure ]

[ Colleagues Competing | Bloody Debut ]

[ Thailand Part 1 | Thailand Part 2 ]

About the author: Anton Tabuena is the Managing Editor for Bloody Elbow. He’s been covering MMA and combat sports since 2009, and has also fought in MMA, Muay Thai and kickboxing. (full bio)

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See what happens on the scales ahead of the latest celebrity boxing spectacle.

KSI was supposed to be fighting Dillon Danis this weekend but that fell through for reasons I am too lazy to look up online. Either way, KSI is now fighting FaZe Temper, whose skills in the boxing ring I am not familiar with and, again, I’m too lazy to look up online.

I knew these are both gamers from rival clans (Sidemen and FaZe), but that’s about as deep as I’m going to get into this match-up.

The fight is for the Misfit Boxing light heavyweight title (like that’s a real thing). Also on the card is a bout for the equally pointless Misfit Boxing light heavyweight title, being contested between a guy called Slim and someone called Tom Zanetti who may or may not be a reality TV star.

The rest of the card is filled with influencers from various social media platforms. They are due to fight Saturday in the UK. The event begins at 2 p.m. ET. The main event ringwalks are expected at 5 p.m. ET.

First of all, though, they have to weigh in (I think). No idea how legit this process is, but there’s video of it anyways. Check out above if you’re curious.

Full results:

MF cruiserweight championship: KSI (c) vs. FaZe Temper

MF light heavyweight championship: Slim (c) vs. Tom Zanetti

Cruiserweight: Salt Papi vs. Josh Brueckner

Cruiserweight: Ryan Taylor vs. Swarmz

Cruiserweight: Joe Fournier vs. Tony Christodoulou

Super lightweight: Elle Brooke vs. Faith Ordway

Light heavyweight: Anthony Taylor vs. Idris Virgo

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‘Robocop’ is staying on the upcoming Brazil card after all.

The UFC has found a new opponent for Gregory Rodrigues at UFC 283 next Saturday.

‘Robocop’ announced in an interview with SuperBook Sports that his original opponent—Brad Tavares—was forced to withdraw from their upcoming fight after suffering an injury. Stepping up on short notice is Brunno Ferreira, the promotional newcomer following a successful appearance on Contender Series this past September.

Guilherme Cruz of MMA Fighting was first to report the new fight.

Rodrigues is 4-1 in the Octagon, with his only loss coming to Armen Petrosyan at UFC Vegas 49 in February. The one-time Legacy Fighting Alliance (LFA) champion rebounded with violent KOs of Julian Marquez and Chidi Njokuani at UFC Austin and UFC Vegas 60, the latter of which left him with one of the worst cuts in mixed martial arts history.

Undefeated as a professional fighter, Ferreira earned a contract with the UFC after finishing Leon Aliu by first-round KO. That was the seventh consecutive finish for the ‘Hulk.’

UFC 283 is set for Sat., Jan. 21, at the Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The pay-per-view is expected to be headlined by a fight between Glover Texeira and Jamahal Hill for the vacant UFC light heavyweight championship.

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Zane Simon & Connor Ruebusch are back to break down this week’s UFC event in Las Vegas, NV. With picks and odds for every fight on the card. From Sean Strickland vs. Nassourdine Imavov in the main event down to Priscila Cachoeira vs. Sijara Eubanks in the opening prelim.

I’m not necessarily sure that the main event of UFC Vegas 67 got better with Sean Strickland’s late entry into the headlining bout against Nassourdine Imavov, but it certainly creates more questions about just what kind of fight fans are going to see. With the fight up at 205, will Strickland be fit for 5 rounds? Will Imavov be helped by not having to cut? Can Strickland still make this a pace fight? The rest of the card is fine, if not terribly notable—although Raoni Barcelos vs. Umar Nurmagomedov should be a thriller.

For fans interested in diving deeper into the event, check out the Prelims Vivi below.

June M. Williams

The MMA Vivisection is brought to you by ‘The Fine Art of Violence’, a collection of art and essays recapping the year in MMA by Chris Rini, featuring the most talented artists and writers in Mixed Martial Arts. The book is available in both hard copy and digital formats at chrisrini.com.

Here’s a look at the UFC Vegas 67 fight card as it stood at the time of recording:

ESPN+ MAIN CARD | 7pm & 4pm ET/PT
Sean Strickland vs. Nassourdine Imavov
Dan Ige vs. Damon Jackson
Punahele Soriano vs. Roman Kopylov
Ketlen Vieira vs. Raquel Pennington
Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Raoni Barcelos

ESPN+ PRELIMS | 4pm & 1pm ET/PT
Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Claudio Ribeiro
Mateusz Rębecki vs. Nick Fiore
Javid Basharat vs. Mateus Mendonça
Allan Nascimento vs. Carlos Hernandez
Daniel Argueta vs. Nick Aguirre
Jimmy Flick vs. Charles Johnson
Priscila Cachoeira vs. Sijara Eubanks

• This week Vivi odds stats, timestamps, and YouTube videos will all be delayed in publication. Check back here for all the details to be updated throughout the evening.

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.

Check out the new MMA Vivi Facebook Page, where the shows always drop an hour earlier than they do anywhere else on the network, be sure to “Like”, Follow, Share — At: https://www.facebook.com/TheMMAVivi.

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Dana White said the UFC, its employees and fighters would be hurt if he were punished for slapping his wife

On Wednesday, UFC president Dana White made his first public appearance since he was caught on video slapping his wife on New Year’s Eve. That appearance, which occurred before a hand-selected group of UFC access media, was strange.

In the early moments of the nearly 15 minutes White spent on the dais, the UFC boss fielded a question about possible repercussions from the above mentioned video. White’s reply was puzzling, narcissistic and insulting.

“What should the repercussions be? You tell me,” White said. “I take 30 days off? How does that hurt me? I told you guys when we were going through COVID, COVID could last 10 years, I could sit it out. What would be the problem?

“It’s much like COVID, actually. Me leaving hurts the company, hurts my employees, hurts the fighters. It doesn’t hurt me. I could have left in 2016,” he continued.

“Do I need to reflect? No, I don’t need to reflect. The next morning when I woke up — you know what I mean? I’ve been against this. I’ve owned this. I’m telling you that I’m wrong.

“But listen, we’ve had plenty of discussions internally, with Ari [Emanuel], ESPN. Nobody’s happy. Nobody’s happy about this. Neither am I. But it happened, and I have to deal with it. And what is my punishment? Here’s my punishment: I’ve got to walk around for however long I live — is it 10.4 years, or is it another 25 years — and this is how I’m labeled now. My other punishment is that, I’m sure a lot of people, whether it be media, fighters, friends, acquaintances, who had respect for me, might not have respect for me now.

“There’s a lot of things that I’m going to have to deal with for the rest of my life that are way more of a punishment than what, I take a 30-day [or a] 60-day absence? That’s not a punishment to me. The punishment is that I did it, and now I have to deal with it.”

White has a point. Thanks to his time with the UFC — and the Fertitta brothers selling the promotion to Endeavor — White is a very wealthy man. Removing him from his job as the UFC president will not affect his lavish lifestyle.

However, the idea that the UFC, its employees, or its fighters — who are not employees — would suffer if White departed from the promotion is a stretch.

Might the Endeavor stock slip if White left — or had been forced out — of his job as the UFC president? Yes, in fact, there would be an excellent chance of that happening. However, Endeavor knows what it needs to do to appease investors and get that stock to bounce back — instill confidence and show increasing revenue.

The confidence part would be easy. UFC Chief Business Officer Hunter Campbell and UFC COO Lawrence Epstein know the UFC business and have been around for a long time. While Campbell and Epstein might not be the faces many associate with the UFC, they are two intelligent and powerful UFC employees who would be able to keep the UFC moving forward and in the black. How? Simply by doing what they have been doing for their entire tenure with the company.

As far as revenue, that has been growing year-over-year since 2018. The UFC now brings in $ 1 billion a year, and is expected to continue its growth in 2023.

Speaking of confidence, if I’m a stockholder or a member of the Endeavor executive team, I would have one monumental question about White’s management acumen following his appearance on Wednesday: What have you been doing for 20+ years?

One of the most significant functions of a top executive is to prepare the organization to function in their absence. The person running a business might be present one day and gone the next. If the company fails because of their absence, there’s a fair chance they failed at their job. No company with more than $ 1 billion in revenue should ever live or die with a single person. For someone like White to imply the company and employees would be hurt by him leaving, points toward ego or bad management.

As for the fighters suffering in White’s absence, that claim begs further explanation. Is White implying that without him, fighters would be treated worse? Without White, would the UFC pay fighters even less than the already embarrassing sub-20 percent revenue share that they get? Fighters also currently don’t have employee rights, healthcare, or pension, and they’re clearly underpaid. With so many things that aren’t good for fighters, perhaps instead of asking if White’s absence will be bad for them, the better question would be to ask why it’s been bad during his presence.

On Wednesday, White made a valiant effort to make it seem like he is the only person in 2023, who can steer the ship that is the UFC. That might have been the case in the early days when the Fertitta’s were hemorrhaging money trying to keep things afloat, but today, there’s no way that should be true. White’s appearance at UFC Vegas 67 media day showed that the only punishment that would mean anything to him would be to remove him from the spotlight, to no longer promote him more than the UFC promotes its fighters.

That could still happen, but the silence, which remains from Endeavor and ESPN, indicates that’s not in their plans — at least not right now.

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Check out all the antics ahead of this weekend’s celebrity boxing bonanza.

British social media influencer KSI is back in the ring this weekend, headlining his Misfit Boxing promotion’s latest show against pro gamer FaZe Temper. The event, titled MF & DAZN: X Series 004, will air exclusively live on DAZN pay-per-view. It airs at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday.

The card was supposed to feature KSI versus BJJ ace and former Bellator fighter Dillon Danis. However, after plenty of noise and at least one scuffle, that fell through with Danis withdrawing from the bout.

His replacement is part of the FaZe gaming clan which is rivals with KSI’s own Sidemen group.

The final press conference for this event is scheduled for 8 a.m ET Thursday. Take it from someone who has been following this garbage for a while now, the press conferences are total gong shows with everyone’s buffoonery on full display. If you’re into that, you can check out the stream below:

MF & DAZN: X Series 004 Full fight card:

MF cruiserweight championship: KSI (c) vs. FaZe Temper

MF light heavyweight championship: Slim (c) vs. Tom Zanetti

Cruiserweight: Salt Papi vs. Josh Brueckner

Cruiserweight: Ryan Taylor vs. Swarmz

Cruiserweight: Joe Fournier vs. Tony Christodoulou

Super lightweight: Elle Brooke vs. Faith Ordway

Light heavyweight: Anthony Taylor vs. Idris Virgo

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