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A big step up in competition is in store for the welterweight up-and-comer.

Jack Della Maddalena is gearing up for the toughest test of his UFC career.

Marcel Dorff of Eurosport Nederland reports that Della Maddalena and Randy Brown have joined the line-up of UFC 284, the upcoming pay-per-view event scheduled for Feb. 11 at RAC Arena in Perth, Western Australia. Brown revealed the fight was being finalized on his Twitch channel.

One of the most exciting names to emerge from Contender Series, Della Maddalena is 3-0 in the UFC. The Australian fighter has added Pete Rodriguez, Ramazan Emeev and Danny Roberts to his resume with three consecutive first-round finishes.

Following his win over Roberts, Della Maddalena expressed interest in the Perth event, saying he wanted to ‘hopefully put someone away in front of my beautiful friends and family’. And he could have the the chance to do so against Brown.

After a second-round KO loss to Vicente Luque, Brown returned to the win column with a first-round rear-naked choke of Alex Oliveira at UFC 261. ‘Rude Boy’ went on to earn three more wins, with decisions over Jared Gooden, Khaos Williams and Francisco Trinaldo in his most recent appearances.

UFC 284 is headlined by a champ vs. champ fight between Islam Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski. Stay tuned to Bloody Elbow for more updates to the event as they become available in the coming weeks.

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The lightweight contender thought he had a championship opportunity secured before the UFC went in a different direction. 

Beneil Dariush is on the verge of his first UFC championship opportunity, but it sounds like waiting for it is not an option.

Having earned a unanimous decision over Mateusz Gamrot at UFC 280 this past October, Dariush thought his next fight should be for the the lightweight belt. After all, he was supposedly tapped to serve as the backup for Islam Makhachev vs. Charles Oliveira, which could have secured him a fight with the winner.

However, once Makhachev defeated Oliveira, his next opponent was revealed—and it was not the longtime Kings MMA talent. Entering the Octagon to have a face-off with the newly crowned champion instead is Alexander Volkanovski, who the UFC gave the go-ahead to pursue his second concurrent title. Once Makhachev vs. Volkanovski was scheduled, Dariush found himself on the outside of the title picture.

“In the moment, I felt like it was definitely weird, and I was frustrated, I’ll be honest with you,” said Dariush in an interview with UFC.com. “I get why they did it. Volkanovski is the pound-for-pound king, but the timing was terrible for me. I seem very cool-headed, but if you push the right buttons or say the right things, I’ll probably try to take your head off right there. So, after I found out the news and I cooled off, I said to myself, ‘What difference does it make? I just have to win my fights.’ It was all good and look how well it turned out.”

For his next fight, there are a few options for Dariush to consider. He could either wait for the winner of Makhachev vs. Volkanovski or get paired against a fellow top-five contender.

Of the two options, Dariush would prefer the latter.

“I don’t know what UFC’s gameplan is for me,” said Dariush. “I don’t know if I’m ever going to fight for that belt. I have the option of waiting and fighting the winner, but if Volkanovski wins and decides to defend his featherweight belt, I might end up waiting a whole year and maybe I end up fighting in 2024. I don’t think there is anybody who can jump in front of me right now, but my job is winning fights, so let’s fight Dustin Poirier or Charles Oliveira. March is a good timetable for me.

“I like fighting,” continued Dariush. “I get bored not fighting. I get bored not preparing for an opponent. This is my job and I want to do it. That’s it. It’s not about money or guaranteeing the title shot, it’s that I want to fight the best guys in the world. I think Dustin Poirier or Charles Oliveira are those guys.”

Poirier and Oliveira are above Dariush in the official rankings.

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The ‘Great’ knew the ‘Korean Zombie’ was done before the referee stepped in during their fight last year. 

Alexander Volkanovski was concerned for Chan Sung Jung by the end of their fight at UFC 273 this past April.

For the third defense of his UFC featherweight championship, Volkanovski turned in one of the most one-sided performances of his professional career against Jung. The ‘Great’ secured a fourth-round TKO of the ‘Korean Zombie,’ who was bruised and battered for the majority of the fight.

At one point, Volkanovski even checked in with Jung and asked if he wanted to continue, to which the UFC veteran responded with a nod. The champion asked again, Jung nodded and the fight continued. During a recent interview with John Hyon Ko of The AllStar, Volkanovski reflected on that brief interaction before the fight-ending sequence.

“I feel like I had this a bit in the [Brian] Ortega fight as well,” said Volkanovski. “We are fighters, we are warriors. You’re not going to sit there and be like, just tap on the floor [or] in between rounds tell your coaches like, ‘I’m done’. You ain’t going to do that. There’s no way ‘Korean Zombie’ is going to do that. There’s no way he’s even going to let off things. But I could see it in his eyes, even though he wasn’t trying to do that, I could see in his eyes he was done. He knew that he tried everything and it was just not going his way.

“He felt defeated,” continued Volkanovski. “So I felt bad at that stage because I felt like the ref could’ve just been like, ‘Alright, that’s it. He’s done.’ Because even when he was sitting there [between rounds three and four], it didn’t look like — it’s not like he didn’t want to be there, but he’s like, ‘There’s nothing I can do.’ So I felt like he looked defeated, so that’s why the ref didn’t give it to him.”

Following his loss to Volkanovski, Jung hinted at retirement in his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan. However, he has decided against it and expressed interest in fighting at an event in Seoul, South Korea.

A Fight Night in Seoul was scheduled but canceled after Jung suffered a shoulder injury and was forced to withdraw from the event. There is no word on when he expects to return to the Octagon.

As for Volkanovski, he is gearing up for a champ vs. champ fight with UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev at UFC 284 in February.

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The World Heavyweight champion took to social media to share his message of hope. 

In a video message posted on Instagram, world heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk expressed his hopes for “victory” and “peace” in his native Ukraine in 2023.

“I want to wish only one thing – what I want, and what all Ukrainians want,” Usyk said according to Ukrainian publication Sport.ua. “We want victory, we want peace, we want silence in our homes. We want every Ukrainian who left because of the war to return.”

When Russia launched its war in Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, Usyk returned to his homeland and joined the country’s territorial defense battalion. He was later allowed to leave the country to prepare for his rematch against Anthony Joshua, whom he would defeat by split decision on Aug. 20 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation (IBF) and World Boxing Organization (WBO) champion also launched his non-profit Usyk Foundation to help provide basic needs for those impacted by the war.

More than 10 months after the invasion, the United States estimated approximately 200,000 military casualties as a result of the ongoing war.

“You’re looking at well over 100,000 Russian soldiers killed and wounded,” Gen Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said. “Same thing probably on the Ukrainian side.”

As for Usyk, the champion is expected to face World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight champion Tyson Fury in an undisputed championship bout later this year.

About the author: Karim Zidan is an investigative reporter for Bloody Elbow focusing on the intersection of sports and politics. His work is also a contributor to The New York Times and The Guardian. (full bio)

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Former referee turned Bellator analyst ‘Big John’ McCarthy gives his take on why UFC president Dana White does not cross promote with other organizations.

UFC president Dana White recently sat down with rising prospect Paddy Pimblett and spoke about why he doesn’t do co-promotions with other organizations. Here’s what the bossman said:

“Why would we do… if somebody’s that good that’s in one of these other organizations, they’re gonna end up here, anyway,” White said.

But former longtime referee and analyst John McCarthy says there could be a bigger reason.

“He did try it, with PRIDE. Back with Chuck Liddell and Ricco Rodriguez and things like that and he didn’t get anything in return. They said, ‘Oh, we’re gonna send over Sakuraba,’ they never did. And so, he was like, ‘I got burned. I’m not gonna allow someone to burn me again.’

“He looks at it now like, ‘Hey, we are the biggest organization.’ He is absolutely right. And, ‘what does it do for my organization? What does it do for me as the promoter?’ And he’s saying ‘it’s only a benefit for other promotions and I’m not here to benefit them.’ So, his choice to say, ‘I’m not gonna do it.’”

But McCarthy, who’s been around talent from different organizations, disagrees.

“To sit there and say that ‘the best are gonna end up here anyways,’ sorry. It’s already been proven that that’s just not true. And there are a lot of guys out there that I can come up with the names on that, ‘look, this guy’s good.’

“And he deserved to be fighting against guys in the UFC, but he decided, ‘Hey, I don’t want to put up with some of the things that are there,’ and decided ‘I’m not going there. I’ll continue to fight where I want to fight, and I’ll make my money this way and I’ll make a lot of money’ (and they have).

“To sit there and say ‘Oh, I don’t need to cross-promote.’ No. And I don’t put this against Dana in any way, I understand Dana’s point on this. I’m not saying he’s wrong. But to say that ‘Oh, all the good ones are gonna end up here anyways,’ that’s not true. And it’s already been… that’s come about.”

Since PRIDE, the most cross-promotion White has done was 2017’s Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor spectacle, which reportedly made $ 600 million in revenue.

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Dana White and his wife got into a physical confrontation on New Years Eve in Mexico.

TMZ is reporting that UFC president Dana White and his wife Anne White got into an altercation with each other in a Cabo nightclub on New Years Eve. And they have video footage of the incident.

According to the article and video, the couple were enjoying the festivities in a VIP area in El Squid Roe, where things quickly escalated into physicality a few minutes into 2023. They exchange some words, and then Anne slaps Dana in the face. Dana immediately responds with his own slap to his wife’s face before they are separated.

Here is TMZ’s video of the incident:

Both White and his wife commented on the regrettable incident, stating that alcohol was to blame. Witnesses said that both were drinking heavily before the incident. Dana said that “there’s never ever an excuse for a guy to put his hands on a woman, and now here I am on TMZ talking about it.”

Anne White had a longer statement:

“Dana and I have been married for almost 30 years. To say this is out of character for him is an understatement — nothing like this has ever happened before. Unfortunately, we were both drinking too much on New Year’s Eve and things got out of control, on both sides. We’ve talked this through as a family and apologized to each other. I just hope people will respect our privacy for the sake of our kids.”

Support for survivors of domestic violence can be found from the following organizations:

If you or someone you know needs help regarding alcohol abuse, support can be found at the following sources:

USA – The Recovery Village – 833 554 1487

Canada – Wellness Together – 1-866-585-0445

UK – Drinkline – 0300 123 1110

Support for survivors of domestic violence can be found from the following organizations:

USA – The National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-SAFE (7233)

Canada – DAWN-RAFH Canada

UK and Ireland – Women’s Aid: 0808-2000-247

Rest of the World – HotPeachPages

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Khabib Nurmagomedov apparently had a whale of a time attending the Bellator/RIZIN New Year’s Eve crossover event.

It’s hard to deny that, when the UFC closed the doors on PRIDE back in 2007, something special was lost in the MMA world. Japan’s highest profile mixed martial arts promotion brought a level of spectacle and pageantry to the sport that other organizations around the world have spent years chasing, but few have rarely been able to match.

With the expiration of his non-compete clause in 2014, however, former PRIDE CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara jumped straight back into the combat sports world with RIZIN Fighting Federation. Since 2015 this new venture has looked to recapture as much of the past glory of the J-MMA scene as it possibly can.

The results haven’t been nearly so consistent, however Sakakibara & Co. finished the year on a high note with a massive NYE cross-promotion event in partnership with Paramount’s Bellator MMA. Bellator president Scott Coker was on hand for the fight card, as apparently was former UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. After the event Coker spoke to attending media, noting that ‘The Eagle’ was mightily impressed by the production values surrounding the evening’s bouts.

“It’s very interesting, because he wasn’t here in the heyday,” Coker said of Nurmagomedov (transcript via MMA Fighting). “I got to see those fights. A lot of you know that [I’ve been] in the martial arts business a long time, I started working for K-1 in 1999, so I got to see all the great fights in K-1. I got to see the great fights of PRIDE. And Khabib has never see the production and the fans, and he was freaking out.

“He was telling me, ‘This is unbelievable.’ He kept telling me, ‘This is unbelievable. I had no idea that something like this was happening in Japan.’ And I said, ‘This is where it started, Khabib.’ This is where MMA and martial arts combat, it started here. It grew throughout the rest of the world, but there was a time when Japan had the best fighters in the world, the best production in the world, the best promotion in the world, and that’s why the UFC bought it. Just like my company, Strikeforce, I think we had a great roster, great events, so they bought it.”

Unlike their purchase of PRIDE, after which the doors were more or less immediately closed on the organization, Zuffa continued operating Strikeforce for two whole years after taking over the Showtime-based promotion. Coker remained with Strikeforce throughout its time as a sister operation with the UFC. Shortly after his contract with Zuffa ended in 2014, he was hired by Bellator to replace former president and promotion founder Bjorn Rebney.

No 2023 events have been announced for RIZIN as of yet. The promotion typically doesn’t hold its first event of the new year until February or March.

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A look at the stats, facts, figures and numbers from the UFC’s middleweight division in 2022

The UFC closed out its run of 2022 events on December 17. The promotion’s final card of the year, UFC Vegas 66, took place in the same venue where it put on its first fight card of the year, UFC Vegas 46. That facility was the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Between January 15 and December 17, there were 511 fights on 42 UFC cards. The first fight of the year was the lightweight bout between T.J. Brown and Charles Rosa. The final contest was the Jared Cannonier vs. Sean Strickland welterweight scrap.

On November 12, Israel Adesanya put his UFC middleweight title — and perfect promotional record at 185 pounds — on the line against Alex Pereira, a man who had far fewer professional MMA bouts to his name, but who had two kickboxing victories over Adesanya. Pereira moved his combat sports record to 3-0 against Adesanya with a fifth-round TKO win. The victory gave Pereira the UFC middleweight title after just four fights with the promotion.

With no UFC cards scheduled until UFC Vegas 67 takes place on January 14, 2023, at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Bloody Elbow looks back at the stats, facts and figures from each UFC weight division in 2022.

Today, we look at the UFC’s middleweight division.

Number of UFC fights in 2022: 511

Number of UFC middleweight fights in 2022: 64

Number of UFC middleweight title fights in 2022: 3

Number of decisions in UFC middleweight fights in 2022: 29

Number of KO / TKO finishes in UFC middleweight fights in 2022: 24

Number of submission finishes in UFC middleweight fights in 2022: 11

Number of majority decisions in UFC middleweight fights in 2022: 0

Number of split decisions in UFC middleweight fights in 2022: 6

Number of unanimous decisions in UFC middleweight fights in 2022: 23

Quickest submission in a UFC middleweight fight in 2022: Joseph Holmes submits Alen Amedovski at 1:04 of Round 1 at UFC Vegas 55

Latest submission in a UFC middleweight fight in 2022: Dricus Du Plessis submits Darren Till at 2:43 of Round 3 at UFC 282.

Quickest KO / TKO in a UFC middleweight fight in 2022: Chidi Njokuani KOs Marc-Andre Barriault at 0:16 of Round 1 at UFC Vegas 47

Latest KO / TKO in a three-round UFC middleweight fight in 2022: Roman Kopylov KOs Alessio Di Chirico at 1:09 of Round 3 at UFC France

Latest KO / TKO in a five-round UFC middleweight fight in 2022: Alex Pereira TKOs Israel Adesanya at 2:01 of Round 5 at UFC 281

Stats via UFCStats.

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Gordon Ryan is now rethinking his MMA plans after his mentor John Danaher strongly advised against it.

When submission grappling superstar Gordon Ryan signed with ONE Championship in 2021, fans were intrigued. Many were curious about how “The King” would fare against elite fighters when grappling is suddenly mixed with striking.

But as the 27-year-old continues to rack up wins in submission grappling, his MMA future is looking bleak. As he told Ariel Helwani in a recent episode of the MMA Hour, part of his decision is also influenced by his longtime mentor, John Danaher.

“John [Danaher] has never been wrong, our coach has never been wrong about anything. He’s never been wrong.

“He’s told me things and whether it be five years or three years or seven years later, he always ends up being right, and John is like, ‘Absolutely do not go into MMA. You already make a ton of money doing this, you’re considered the greatest of all time already, and jiu-jitsu is about to become mainstream, and once it becomes mainstream everyone is going to get paid more and jiu-jitsu is going to be a real sport. You’re at the forefront of that and if you move to MMA now, that could be lost.’

“So I don’t know. Maybe if one of the other guys from the team wins an ADCC Absolute or something.

While he isn’t closing his doors, Ryan says he’d rather focus on what he feels is his obligation to “push jiu-jitsu” into further mainstream recognition.

“I’ve always wanted to fight MMA, but I’m in such a good position now and I feel like it’s kind of my job to push jiu-jitsu over the hump into the mainstream. So I’m not totally ruling it out but I’m pretty comfortable with just grappling right now.

“I’m like the Mayweather or McGregor of jiu-jitsu. I don’t make nearly as much money as them but in proportion to the rest of the guys. But my goal in the next five to 10 years is to have athletes, at least with purses — most of my money comes from instructionals.

“Most of my jiu-jitsu money comes from instructional videos, so I don’t think anyone is going to make as much money teaching as I do, because I think I’m a much better teacher, but I do think that in the next five to 10 years, athletes could be making similar money to what I’m making now just through competition purses.

“I think that an athlete in jiu-jitsu in the next five to 10 years should be making over $ 1 million a year just competing. And if we can do that, I think we’ll have something going for us.”

Ryan, who hasn’t lost since 2018, is set for a Nogi superfight against fellow ADCC champion Felipe Pena.

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One of the UFC’s top ranked lightweights appears to be making a sudden exit from competition, following just the second loss of his MMA career.

Even coming off a loss to Arman Tsarukyan at UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs. Strickland, Damir Ismagulov seemed like a man who could easily contend for a UFC title some day. The 31-year-old former M-1 lightweight champion had tasted defeat just twice in 26 fights, and had never been finished. With a well rounded technical game and one of lightweight’s best jabs to rely on, he looked primed to remain ‘in the mix’ at 155 lbs for years to come.

It’s something of a shock then that the Russian-born Kazakh fighter appears to have announced the end of his career in a post to his social media accounts on Sunday, January 1st.

“Unfortunately, due to circumstances and health problems, I have to end my sports career,” Ismagulov wrote on Instagram (h/t MMA Fighting). “Thanks to all those who were by my side, regardless of the result in the battles, who sincerely hurt and worried. It was an interesting journey, a moment to remember. Hugged everyone.”

Ismagulov went 5-1 over his four-year UFC stint, picking up notable victories over Joel Alvarez, Thiago Moises, and Guram Kutateladze on the way. During that stretch, his career was sidelined for 18 months between 2019-2021 due to a series of injuries. In an interview with the UFC—ahead of his return against Rafael Alves—however, Ismagulov claimed to be fully recovered and healthy.

No word yet on exactly what the circumstances of his recent health issues may be, but it’s an unfortunate conclusion to a terrific run at the highest levels of MMA.

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