Justin Gaethje isn’t a fan of Michael Bisping’s commentary work, particularly during the main event of UFC 286.

Former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping became the latest addition to the broadcast team in 2019, a year after he formalized his retirement from the sport. “The Count” usually works the Fight Night events, and in this case, Saturday’s UFC 286 which was held in his home country.

Bisping’s work isn’t criticized often, but they do happen from time to time. During the post-fight scrum, Justin Gaethje threw accusations of biased commentary, particularly during the event’s headliner between Kamaru Usman and Leon Edwards.

“I thought (Usman) won the fight, but I’m probably as biased as the judges. Certainly not as biased as Michael Bisping. He shouldn’t have been nowhere near a microphone during that fight. It sucks,” Gaethje told reporters.

Gaethje didn’t mention any specifics, but he found Bisping’s mic work that night to be “very unprofessional.”

“It’s not my call (to have him on the broadcast or not). I just thought it was very unprofessional.”

Outside of these claims, Bisping did have some funny minor flubs during his broadcast duties that night.

This isn’t the first time former fighters turned commentators are accused of bias. Former double-champ Daniel Cormier is usually on the receiving end of such criticisms, something he remains unapologetic for.

As for the fight, Edwards emerged victorious via majority decision, marking his first successful title defense.

About the author: Milan Ordoñez has been covering combat sports since 2012 and has been part of the Bloody Elbow staff since 2016. He’s also competed in amateur mixed martial arts and submission grappling tournaments. (full bio)

Bloody Elbow – All Posts

A rundown of the biggest headlines and news from the world of competitive grappling.

The IBJJF Pan Championship is one of the biggest BJJ competitions of the calendar year, and it regularly attracts the best competitors from all across the world. There’s particular attention on this edition of the tournament though, because it also marks the return of Nicholas Meregali to gi competition. After spending so long training no gi for his ADCC debut, it’ll be interesting to see how he does in his transition back to the gi.

He’s not the only athlete looking to make a statement at the tournament though; Fellipe Andrew is coming in fresh of a phenomenal performance at the IBJJF Los Angeles Open. There will naturally be a lot of attention on Tainan Dalpra as well, with fans wondering if he can continue his dominance in the middleweight division. Then at super-heavyweight, Erich Munis is in good form after winning the IBJJF Curitiba Open just weeks before.

Tammi Musumeci to make ONE debut against Bianca Basilio

While Mikey Musumeci has been busy winning the very first ONE Championship flyweight submission grappling title and working hard to defend it, his sister Tammi has been preparing for her promotional debut. A multiple-time IBJJF no gi world champion in her own right, Tammi Musumeci has been an impressive competitor for a decade already and will no doubt be eager to make a statement in her first ONE Championship match.

She isn’t going to have an easy time of it though, as her opponent is ADCC world champion Bianca Basilio. She won the women’s under 60kg division back in 2019 and is an incredibly tough opponent for any competitor. The grappling match between the two will serve as the first fight of ONE Fight Night 8, which will be headlined by an epic kickboxing title match between Rodtang Jitmuangnon and Superlek Kiatmuu9.

ADCC trials winners get back in action with great performances

Several top competitors who earned their places at ADCC 2022 last year were back in action this weekend, and all of them put on a show for the fans. North American trials winner Keith Krikorian was competing in the co-main event of SOGI Pro: Winter Warz against Andrew Solano. He put on a flawless display of his talent by locking up a rear-naked choke to submit his opponent.

On the other side of the planet, European trials winner Ashley Williams had traveled all the way to Australia to face Asia and Oceania trials winner Jeremy Skinner on his home turf. The pair met in the main event of Subversion: Equinox and they both put everything they had into the match, delivering plenty of action over the first few minutes. Around the halfway mark Williams managed to lock up a triangle choke to earn ‘Submission of the Night’.

Gunnar Nelson hits a beautiful finish at UFC 286

The UFC took a trip to London, England and gave the fans in the UK a rare opportunity to see a title-fight live in action. While the local hero Leon Edwards managed to defend his title against the former champion Kamaru Usman and win their trilogy bout, one of the most exciting moments of the night came a little earlier. Gunnar Nelson was taking on Bryan Barbarena about halfway through the main card in a fun match between two veterans.

Nelson started out using his classic side-on Karate-style stance, but once he got a hold of Barbarena he looked much more like the grappling ace. Nelson immediately took Barbarena down and transitioned to mount with relative ease, dropping shots regularly along the way. After a few seconds in mount, Nelson spun for a beautiful armbar to get the finish in the first round and win ‘Performance of the Night’.

Full results for the event can be found here.

Quick Hits

• Judo legend Teddy Riner has started adding Jiu-Jitsu to his training regime in order to prepare for the 2024 Olympic Games.
• Roberto Satoshi de Souza is going to attempt to get back in the win column at RIZIN 42 in a non-title bout against Spike Carlyle.
• Felipe Pena revealed that he still intends to transition to MMA, once he’s had his fourth match with Gordon Ryan.
• Craig Jones has announced that he will soon be starting his own podcast with a co-host, entitled ‘El Segundo podcast’.

Technique Corner

Defending the Tarikoplata

Detail for controlling from the diving Kimura

Shutting down the Leg-drag pass from De la Riva guard

Meme of the Week

Bloody Elbow – All Posts

All the best, most interesting, and unquestionably coolest fights the UFC needs to book following their latest event in London, England.

UFC 286 is all wrapped up. While it didn’t have the high tension thrills of 285, it was a pretty satisfying PPV all around. Leon Edwards put on what may have been the most complete performance of his career to put his rivalry with Kamaru Usman firmly to bed in the main event, while Justin Gaethje and Rafael Fiziev gave us exactly the war we’d hoped for in the co-main. Throw another submission highlight for Gunnar Nelson in there, and there was plenty of high level MMA on display.

So, is the UFC really going to shove another Colby Covington title shot on us? Is there any clear path for Gaethje back to a shot at the lightweight strap? And who’s the next top prospect that’s going to have to tangle with Jennifer Maia to get to the flyweight elite?

To answer those questions—and a bunch of other stuff—I’ll be using the classic Silva/Shelby fight booking methodology from the UFC of years past. That means pitting winners against winners, losers against losers, and similarly tenured talent up against one another. Hopefully, by following that model, a few of these bout ideas will actually make it off the page and into the Octagon. Now, let’s get to the fights!

LEON EDWARDS

A fantastic fight from Leon Edwards who made a couple of small, fundamental adjustments going into this bout that seem to have finely tuned his game to beating Kamaru Usman. First and foremost, Edwards almost entirely went away from head strikes for this fight. It’s a strange move for just about anyone to make in MMA, since striking to the head is the easiest way to do damage that catches the eye of the judges. But, for Edwards—who has long struggled to keep his back off the cage—it proved to a truly brilliant tactic. With less focus on letting his hands go in a quickly collapsing pocket, ‘Rocky’ was able to put a lot more emphasis on his circling footwork, maintaining exactly the range he needed for his kicking game.

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

The other adjustment, as noted multiple times throughout the broadcast, was his focus on always attacking one wrist with both hands every time Usman shot in on his legs. The ‘Nigerian Nightmare’’s best wrestling rarely comes from a pure, explosive double-leg. He’s at his best when he drives an opponent to the cage, gets his hands locked, and uses his fantastic upper-body strength to rip his foe’s hips off the fence and dump them on the mat. Edwards always making sure he controlled one wrist ensured that a key step in Usman’s takedown process was always broken. The result was a lot more time spent up on his feet, at distance.

Usually, this is the spot where I’d talk about how Edwards should now be fighting the next clear challenger in front of him. By all rights, that would be Belal Muhammad. If everything stays the way it is right now, however, that won’t be happening. At the post-UFC 286 presser, Dana White revealed that not only is the promotion looking to book Muhammad against top rising prospect Shavkat Rakhmonov, but Colby Covington (who served as surprise backup contender at this event) is getting the next crack at gold. End of discussion. As others have already noted, Covington hasn’t beat a fighter coming off a win since RDA in 2018. It’s not the choice I’d make, but it seems Leon Edwards vs. Colby Covington is the fight we’re going to get.

KAMARU USMAN

The big question to be had going into this fight for Kamaru Usman was, would he pressure more? At UFC 278, Usman stayed on the front foot a lot, but his volume was nowhere near what it had been in bouts with Gilbert Burns, Colby Covington, or Tyron Woodley. It felt a bit like the Trevor Wittman-trained athlete kept Edwards in their last fight with his lack of consistent offensive output. Especially in that 5th round, where he threw all of 16 strikes in 4 minutes—before getting brutally KO’d. So with a second chance, at sea level, this was Usman’s time to put his foot on the gas, right? Wrong.

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

He once again kept things slow and cautious, giving Edwards ample time to ramp up his kicking game as Usman tried to stalk into range without much in the way of offense to work behind. The result was a reasonably clean loss. Even me scoring this fight a draw meant that I comfortably had Edwards winning 3/5 rounds.

So with the title now out of reach for the foreseeable future, who does Usman need to fight? Chimaev’s apparently moving up, Muhammad is apparently fighting Rakhmonov, Covington’s booked (plus we’ve seen that fight enough)—same with Burns & Masvidal. That leaves one easy option. A glaring omission from Usman’s resume: Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson. Thompson’s coming off a big win over Kevin Holland, the UFC should strike while the iron is still surprisingly hot. Thompson vs. Usman is a great high-profile next booking for the former king.

JUSTIN GAETHJE

Full credit to Justin Gaethje, Rafael Fiziev looked like he had done his homework and came out attacking the body hard. He landed tons of kicks from range, dug with knees on the inside, and was happy to sit down and land big shots in the pocket when the time called. But Gaethje made a couple superb adjustments that saw him stall ‘Ataman’’s momentum and eventually start taking it over late.

Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images

The first adjustment was to start meeting Fiziev’s pocket body strikes with uppercuts. The second was to fight behind his jab. The first step convinced Fiziev to be more cautious about pressing with real conviction. The second kept him firmly on the end of Gaethje’s punches the rest of the way. The end result is a big win that Gaethje absolutely had to have if he’s going to make another title run like he wants.

The ‘Highlight’ intimated that he might not have many fights left, so we can’t waste them. Unfortunately getting there will likely mean going through a couple of men who already have his number: Dustin Poirier or Charles Oliveira. If Gaethje’s really lucky, Beneil Dariush will beat Oliveira and still won’t get a title shot and he can get that fight (although the two men are also close friends, so that still might not be a bookable match). Otherwise the only obvious answer right now is Poirier vs. Gaethje 2.

GUNNAR NELSON

Bryan Barberena is lots of fun, but this was more or less a walkover booking for Gunnar Nelson. The Icelandic fighter pressured his way into an early takedown and once he had Barberena on the mat, it was only a matter of time before this was gonna be all wrapped up. A couple minutes and an armbar attempt later and the fight was over.

Nelson’s apparently more committed to his coaching career right now than being a full time fighter, so we might not see him anytime soon. But when he does come back, bouts with Muslim Salikhov, the winner of Holland/Ponzinibbio, or a re-booking of the Daniel Rodriguez bout would all be good. Hell I’d love to see him against Max Griffin or Michel Pereira or Jack Della Maddalena too. Lots of options. Considering the unlikelihood he runs back to the cage for a quick return, I’ll say wait for the winner of Holland/Ponzinibbio. Holland vs. Nelson would be so much fun and a rematch of that Ponzinibbio fight feels long overdo.

To get the rest of this week’s Fights to Make column, head over to the Bloody Elbow Substack, which gives premium content and rewards for our subscribers.

Reserve your username for the new Bloody Elbow before April 1, 2023. Go here for more details (link).

About the author: Zane Simon is a senior editor, writer and podcaster for Bloody Elbow. Host of the MMA Vivisection and 6th Round, he has covered MMA and the UFC since 2013.(full bio)

Bloody Elbow – All Posts

Colby Covington went on an expletive-filled rant against Khamzat Chimaev for missing weight at UFC 279.

There remains to be a massive hype behind Khamzat Chimaev, and Colby Covington is having none of it. “Chaos” was present at the O2 Arena for UFC 286 as a backup for the main event, and he didn’t mince his words on the 28-year-old undefeated fighter, whom he referred to as a “dog-faced motherf–r.”

“He talks all this shit, he said all these things about me in the media,” Covington told reporters during a media scrum. “Of course, they’re gonna say things in the media. They don’t say things to my face or in the Octagon. He’s been saying, ‘Oh, I want to fight for the title at 170, I want to fight Colby, this and that.’”

Covington’s gripes were mainly about Chimaev’s weight miss at UFC 279, which led to a massive change in the card. Khamzat ended up fighting at a 180-pound catchweight against Kevin Holland, who was originally paired up against Li Jingliang.

“The guy quit to the common cold. The quit f—ng on a weight cut when he had the best professionals at the UFC P.I. can offer. Millions of dollars were put into this guy in marketing, and he had the easiest fight in the division, the soy boy Nate Diaz. And he still couldn’t make weight.

“He missed weight by nine pounds, and he’s laughing it off like this is a f—ng joke. He’s a f—ng joke. The guy f—ng sucks at fighting, he’s unprofessional, and I don’t want to ever hear that guy’s name again. You guys hype him up to be this great giant. The guy couldn’t hold my f—ng jock strap.”

When asked if he would still entertain a fight with Chimaev, Covington said this in response.

“(The fight) was never formally presented to me. We talked about it, it was the fight that I wanted. I wanted to derail that hype train. Everybody was building him up to be colossal like he’s this great fighter. I saw the quitter in him from the start. I knew he had no cardio, I knew I would expose his gas tank and make him break inside five rounds.

“The guy quit in three rounds. What’s he gonna do when he gets pornstar cardio and the cardio king for five rounds? I was begging to fight that, I was chomping at the bit, but we saw how unprofessional he was.

“They gave him the easiest fight, Nate Diaz, to set it up to fight me the next fight. To build this up and make it a spectacle. And he couldn’t do it.

“The guy’s a clown, I don’t want to ever hear that guy’s name in this division again. Let that dog-faced motherf—r rot in ’85.”

Chimaev had been jumping around between 170 and 185 throughout his three-year UFC stint. He’d been struggling to finalize a next bout because according to him, all four opponent offers fell through, and “nobody wants to fight.”

About the author: Milan Ordoñez has been covering combat sports since 2012 and has been part of the Bloody Elbow staff since 2016. He’s also competed in amateur mixed martial arts and submission grappling tournaments. (full bio)

Bloody Elbow – All Posts

Colby Covington is Leon Edwards’ next challenger according to Dana White, but the champ isn’t seeing the logic behind it.

For the second time around, Leon Edwards got the job done to prove that he is the better welterweight than Kamaru Usman, and ultimately, the best in the world. “Rocky” fought “The Nigerian Nightmare” through five rounds and won via majority decision in their third bout at UFC 286 on Saturday.

When asked about Edwards’ next challenger, UFC president Dana White confirmed with reporters during the post-fight scrum that it would be former interim champion, Colby Covington.

“I don’t know when we’ll do it, but yeah, that’s the fight that makes sense. And Colby came here, cut weight, and did everything to be here for this fight. He deserves the fight.

“Not to mention the fact that he’s the second or third-best guy in the world.”

Edwards, however, sees no logic behind the potential matchup.

“I don’t know how that makes sense,” he said during his own post-fight scrum. “You haven’t fought for over a year and a half sat out, not injured. I just don’t get how he just slides in for the world title shot, when there are other guys in the division that’s been active, been fighting, didn’t sit out.

“Like I said, I’m the king now. I’ve earned my way so I feel like I should decide who’s next.”

The number two-ranked Covington hasn’t fought since his March 2022 grudge match with former training partner and close friend Jorge Masvidal, which he won on the scorecards.

About the author: Milan Ordoñez has been covering combat sports since 2012 and has been part of the Bloody Elbow staff since 2016. He’s also competed in amateur mixed martial arts and submission grappling tournaments. (full bio)

Bloody Elbow – All Posts

The UFC lightweight champion is ready to move up a division and challenge Edwards. 

UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev wants to pursue champ-champ status.

After Leon Edwards successfully defended the UFC welterweight championship against Kamaru Usman at UFC 286 this past Saturday, Makhachev set his sights on ‘Rocky’ for a potential fight towards the end of the year.

“I want Leon next,” tweeted Makhachev. “October in Abu Dhabi.”

It is no surprise to see Makhachev hinting at a switch in divisions, as the American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) product recently revealed it was his ‘dream’ to hold titles at lightweight and welterweight. That said, Makhachev does have a potential No. 1 contender between Charles Oliveira and Beneil Dariush to focus on, so perhaps a move up in weight is out of the question — for now.

Makhachev has one defense on his résumé, a unanimous decision against UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski in a ‘Fight of the Year’ candidate at UFC 284 in February.

As for Edwards, he has his next defense set. UFC president Dana White announced at his post-fight press conference that Colby Covington was next for the Team Renegade representative.

However, if Makhachev wants to try his hand at a new weight class, Edwards is interested in a champ vs. champ fight when he returns to the Octagon.

“All comers are welcome,” said Edwards in his post-fight interview with BT Sport. “Pay me right and I will show up. That’s my mentality. If you pay me well, I will show up and anybody can get it.”

With the win against Usman in their highly anticipated trilogy, Edwards is on a 12-fight streak.

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

Reserve your user name for the new Bloody Elbow before April 1, 2023. Go here for more details (link).

Bloody Elbow – All Posts

Check out the full fight video highlights of Leon Edwards vs. Kamaru Usman from the UFC 286 co-main event.

The top of the UFC 286 billing witnessed England’s own Leon Edwards retain his welterweight title by takin a majority decision over the former champ, Kamaru Usman.

Edwards got his strikes going right away, pumping his volume from range and stuffing the takedown attempts. The champion also landed a huge knee to the face in the second round that wobbled Usman, but he wasn’t able to capitalize on the moment. Thing got weird in the third when Edwards was deducted a point for a blatant fence grab to stop a takedown.

Usman rallied in the fourth, landing his jab and getting his boxing going. Then in the final round he was more grappling focused, which allowed Leon to return to his volume to rack up some strikes. All in all it was a pretty fun fight, and although we didn’t get many wow moments, the bout was highly competitive until the final bell.

Check out Dayne Fox’s play-by-play of Leon Edwards vs. Kamaru Usman:

Rd.1-

Edwards open the action with a kick to the thigh of Usman. Usman returns one about 20 seconds later. Lots of staring in the first minute. Edwards catches an uppercut as Usman looks to shoot. Usman back out into range. Leg kick from Edwards. Front kick from Edwards. Usman looking gun shy. Usman begins to chase but nothing lands. Edwards lands a knee in the clinch. Edwards keeping Usman at range with front and side kicks. Body kick from Edwards stumbles Usman. Usman recovers and lands a body shot to Edwards. Another kick from Edwards and Usman looks for a takedown against the cage. Edwards stuffs and spins off the cage. Edwards had his hand in the glove of Usman, so herb Dean creates a brief pause in the action to warn. They begin trading kicks when the action resumes. Edwards gets several kicks to the legs to end the round. 10-9 Edwards

Leon Edwards def. Kamaru Usman by majority decision (48-46 x2, 47-47): Welterweight Title

About the author: Eddie Mercado has covered combat sports since 2015. He covers everything from betting odds to live events and fighter interviews. He holds a 1-0 record in pro MMA and holds a purple belt in Jiu-Jitsu. (full bio)

Bloody Elbow – All Posts

Live scoring of UFC 286: Gaethje vs. Fiziev.

Join us tonight on Bloody Elbow for live results, discussion, and round by round scoring for the co-main event of UFC 286 from the O2 Arena in London, England

Today’s card will be headlined by a welterweight title fight. In the main event, Leon Edwards will look to successfully defend his title against former champion, Kamaru Usman. The co-main event will see fan favorite Justin Gaethje look to get back on track against a streaking Rafael Fiziev.

This post will cover the co-main event between Gaethje and Fiziev. Gaethje is coming off a failed attempt to obtain the lightweight title against Charles Oliveira. He’ll look to get back into the title picture by turning away Fiziev, who has developed a reputation as one of the more entertaining strikers in the sport. Should Fiziev win, it will be his seventh consecutive win, adding a fresh face to the title picture.

UFC 286 is a standard PPV. There are six early prelims on ESPN+ and Fight Pass that will kick off around 12:30pm ET/9:30am PT. The televised four-fight prelims will air on ESPN+ and ESPNEWS and will start at 3pm ET/12pm PT. The PPV kicks off at 5pm ET/2pm PT with five fights, and you can order it on ESPN+ PPV.

Reserve your user name for the new Bloody Elbow before April 1, 2023. Go here for more details (link).

Bloody Elbow – All Posts

Check out who the Bloody Elbow community thinks will win at UFC 286

Yesterday I released our BE Staff Picks for UFC 286, but now it’s time to check out what the BE community thinks. Participation in the community picks is open to all paid subscribers on Substacks. The supporters on that platforms are making sure BE survives and thrives past March 31 (when we leave Vox Media). Please considering joining them so we can continue to build the best BE possible.

This week’s community picks also includes some analysis from our supporters. So please welcome Ayaan and Luke G! Adding analysis is a perk for both founding members (those who support us with a $ 500 year-long pledge) and members who got had the best record for the previous community picks.

Leon Edwards (32.4%) vs. Kamaru Usman (67.6%)

BE Community Pick: Kamaru Usman

Ayaan: Going into this rematch of epic proportions, expect Usman to look to push that 5-round pace and aim to batter Edwards and establish control on the ground and against the fence. Easier said than done as Leon has a distinct striking advantage and on the feet will make it hard for Usman on most occasions. Look out for Leon hand trapping the lead hand for an opening into striking and continuous feints to keep Usman guessing. Another overlooked aspect is the battle on the ground. After Leon did the unthinkable and brought Usman down, he established a good amount of top time, and should a similar situation arise, expect a more BJJ-oriented attack which Usman has not really dealt with in a long time. To me, it boils down to if Leon can take advantage of the openings that he no doubt will get on the feet or if Usman can fully smother him and not let his foot off the gas that cost him in the last fight. I have a more wary Usman going back to his roots and playing the safe game even safer, limiting exchanges on the feet and frustrating Leon over 5 rounds en route to a UD. But I also can see Leon stealing it away with a well-placed strike to the head again. But Usman by UD for me.

Luke G: Usman. I think if he doesn’t take his foot off the gas this time around, Leon’s success isn’t as easy to replicate.

Justin Gaethje (24.3%) vs. Rafael Fiziev (75.7%)

BE Community Pick: Rafael Fiziev

Ayaan: This is a striking fans dream come true. Of course, these two bring two different types of striking to the table. Fiziev brings a background of Muay Thai and precise technical striking to the table while Gaethje brings wild strikes from hell and debilitating leg kicks that can easily shut down any type of gameplan once more than a few land clean. However, Gaetjhe has a tendency to throw “naked leg kicks”, meaning he often gets caught during the act of throwing singular leg kicks. It happened against Charles Olivera, it was part of the finishing sequence with Dustin Poirier, and against a highly technical counter puncher and striker in Fiziev, Justin cannot afford to get caught. I think if he makes it ugly, he has his best shot to victory. If not, I see Fiziev dispatching Gaethje inside 3 rounds.

Luke G: Fiziev. I think Fiziev’s technical striking discipline and volume is going to give Gaethje issues and he won’t be able to adjust.

Gunnar Nelson (56.8%) vs. Bryan Barberena (43.2%)

BE Community Pick: Gunnar Nelson

Ayaan: Gunnar Nelson is coming from a year layoff to face one of the most exciting fighters who always brings his best in Bryan Barberena. Truthfully, if it goes to the ground, then Gunnar will find the win. But I don’t see “Bam Bam” letting it happen and letting his hands go en route to dispatching Gunnar in the second.

Luke G: Nelson. As long as Nelson sticks to his wrestling and doesn’t keep this on the feet, he’s got this.

Jennifer Maia (59.5%) vs. Casey O’Neill (40.5%)

BE Community Pick: Jennifer Maia

Luke G: Maia. I wasn’t convinced by O’Neil’s split win over Modafferi. I think Maia is a big veteran test she isn’t likely to pass.

Marvin Vettori (64.9%) vs. Roman Dolidze (35.1%)

BE Community Pick: Marvin Vettori

Luke G: Vettori. Marvin’s volume and pressure are just going to be too much for Roman.

Jack Shore (75.7%) vs. Makwan Amirkhani (24.3%)

BE Community Pick: Jack Shore

Luke G: Shore. This is a big step back for Shore after the loss to Ricky Simon and I’m really anticipating he just plainly smokes Amirkhani.

Chris Duncan (51.4%) vs. Omar Morales (48.6%)

BE Community Pick: Chris Duncan

Luke G: Morales. Pure coin flip for me here, taking the more experienced guy and hoping he doesn’t collapse.

Sam Patterson (56.8%) vs. Yanal Ashmoz (43.2%)

BE Community Pick: Sam Patterson

Luke G: Patterson. He’s got more fights against better competition.

Mohammad Mokaev (86.5%) vs. Jafel Filho (13.5%)

BE Community Pick: Mohammad Mokaev

Luke G: Mokaev. Seems like a necessary step back after a tough fight against Malcolm Gordon. Expect Mokaev to be more dominant here.

Lerone Murphy (70.3%) vs. Gabriel Santos (29.7%)

BE Community Pick: Lerone Murphy

Luke G: Murphy. Choosing him to win in England against a short notice replacement making their debut but admittedly I haven’t seen Santos fight.

Christian Leroy Duncan (40.5%) vs. Dusko Todorovic (59.5%)

BE Community Pick: Dusko Todorovic

Luke G: Taking Duncan purely because Todorovic’s only recent wins are against guys no longer in the UFC.

Jake Hadley (59.5%) vs. Malcolm Gordon (40.5%)

BE Community Pick: Jake Hadley

Luke G: Hadley. I just dont trust Gordon’s chin or overall survival instinct too many finish losses for me.

Joanne Wood (56.8%) vs. Luana Carolina (43.2%)

BE Community Pick: Joanne Wood

Luke G: Carolina. This is my underdog pick of the prelims because Wood seems to have fallen off.

Jai Herbert (62.2%) vs. L’udovit Klein (37.8%)

BE Community Pick: Jai Herbert

Luke G: Klein. There has never been a Jai Herbert fight I haven’t enjoyed but I don’t trust him after the first round.

Veronica Macedo (37.8%) vs. Juliana Miller (62.2%)

BE Community Pick: Juliana Miller

Luke G: Miller. Gotta go with a young TUF winner over a 1-4 in their last 5 fighter

Which fight wins Fight of the Night award?

BE Community Pick: Justin Gaethje vs. Rafael Fiziev (91.9%)

Ayaan: Gaethje and Fiziev put a clinic on violence and take the honors.

Luke G: Fiziev/Gaetjhe for the reasons stated above.

Who wins a Performance of the Night award?

BE Community Pick: Rafael Fiziev (59.5%), Kamaru Usman (29.7%), Justin Gaethje (29.7%), Mohammad Mokaev (29.7%)

Ayaan: Mohammad Mokaev shuts down Filho for a dominating performance is my guess.

Luke G: Fiziev, Shore, Usman.

Which fight are you most excited for?

BE Community Pick: Justin Gaethje vs. Rafael Fiziev (73%)

Ayaan: Definitely Usman v. Edwards, any trilogy is always an exciting time.

Luke G: Fiziev/Gaetjhe. Seems like it has the highest chance of extreme violence for obvious reasons.

LEADER BOARD

Just like with our staff picks I’m tracking the community picks and maintaining this nifty table. Spots on the table are determined by correct picks. Bonus points (for correctly picking fight night award winners) act as tie breakers. As you can see Luke G is top of the table thanks to going 8-5 on UFC Vegas 71 and picking up a bonus point. If you want to get on the board, and join the conversation, head over to Substack and pick up a subscription.

About the author: Tim Bissell is a writer, editor and deputy site manager for Bloody Elbow. He has covered combat sports since 2015. Tim covers news and events and has also written longform and investigative pieces. (full bio)

Reserve your user name for the new Bloody Elbow before April 1, 2023. Go here for more details (link).

Bloody Elbow – All Posts

Live scoring of UFC 286: Edwards vs. Usman 3

Join us tonight on Bloody Elbow for live results, discussion, and round by round scoring for the main event of UFC 286 from the O2 Arena in London, England

Today’s card will be headlined by a welterweight title fight. In the main event, Leon Edwards will look to successfully defend his title against former champion, Kamaru Usman. The co-main event will see fan favorite Justin Gaethje look to get back on track against a streaking Rafael Fiziev.

This post will cover the main event between Makhachev and Volkanovski. Edwards will look to retain his title which he snatched away from Usman, last August in one of the most shocking upsets in MMA history when he secure a head kick KO in the fifth round to stop Usman in a fight Usman was on his way to winning by decision. It will serve as a rubber match for the two, the first contest between those two occurring in 2015.

UFC 286 is a standard PPV. There are six early prelims on ESPN+ and Fight Pass that will kick off around 12:30pm ET/9:30am PT. The televised four-fight prelims will air on ESPN+ and ESPNEWS and will start at 3pm ET/12pm PT. The PPV kicks off at 5pm ET/2pm PT with five fights, and you can order it on ESPN+ PPV.

Reserve your user name for the new Bloody Elbow before April 1, 2023. Go here for more details (link).

Bloody Elbow – All Posts